ii 



Border Fights ^ Fighters 




M ^- 



" They came on with fixed bayonets without firing." 



Border Fights ^ Fighters 

^S ^5 ^? •5 ^r ^? ^5 ^¥ ^5 ^5 ^5 ^P: ^ff ^? ^5 ^5 ^5 ^5 ^5 ^? ^5 ^ff ^¥ ^ff ^5 ^5 ^y^ ^5 ^ff ^ff ^B ^S'^^C^c 

STORIES OF THE PIONEERS BETWEEN 
THE ALLEGHENIES AND THE MISSIS- 
SIPPI AND IN THE TEXAN REPUBLIC 

BY 
CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY, LL.D. 

Author of 

American Fights & Fighters, Colonial 
Fights & Fighters, ^c. 

¥ 

With Maps, Plans, & many Illustrations by- 
Louis Betts, Howard Giles, J, N. Mar- 
chand, Roy L. Williams, Harry 
Fenn & A. de F. Pitney 



NEW YORK 

MCCLURE, PHILLIPS ^ CP 

MCMII 



^---^\Oa^ ^ 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Cop.Es Received 

SEP. 23 1902 

•COPVWOHT ENTHy 

CLAlS O'XXfc. No. 
OOPY A. 






V 



Copyright, 190a, by S. S. McClure Co. 

Copyright, 1 902, by 
McCLURE, PHILLIPS & CO. 



Published, October, 1902, N 



I dedicate this book 

in the bonds of an old affection to that 

venerated and admired 

Scholar & Gentleman 

CDtoarD I3roofe0^ ^.M*, p^.^*, LL*?^.^ etc»j 

Superintendent of Public Education, Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania, whose varied learning, philo- 
sophic CULTURE, WIDE EXPERIENCE, and 
most of all, UNFAILING CHRISTIAN 

COURTESY and kindliness of 

HEART, have so endeared 

him to all those who, 

like myself, are 

privileged to 

call him 

frienti 



Prefatory Note 



FROM De Soto, who opens the first book of this 
Fights and Fighters Scries, to Houston, who closes 
the third, is just three centuries. 
The salient incidents of these three hundred years, 
from the Conquistador to the Pioneer, have engaged the 
greater part of my attention for a long time, and with 
the completion of this book they are set before the reader. 
To me this last book of the series has been the most 
interesting. It is more thoroughly American and the 
men come more closely home to us therefore. Two of 
them come especially close to me, since Captain John 
Brady was my great-great-grandfather, and Captain 
Samuel Brady my great-granduncle. It has been a 
pleasure and pride to me to find them worthy of inclu- 
sion in this category of heroes. 

As I look back upon the history of America through 
my studies therein, I seem to catch a glimpse of the 
great purpose and plan back of it all. The story of our 
land has been the story of a struggle for the possession 
of a continent, a story of the rise to domination of that 
branch of the Germanic Race known as the Anglo-Saxon. 
Whatever be the continental affiliation of the early or 
late settler, whether Irish, Dutch, Scots, German, or 
Latin, he has been modified, changed, absorbed by the 
dominant racial solvent, primarily into a Germano-Anglo- 
Saxon, latterly into an American — the new racial type. 
Our social habits and political practices, like our Ian- 



viii Prefatory Note 

guage, law, and religion, are English, with just enough 
modification to differentiate us and give us an originality 
of our own. 

The struggle by which this has been brought about 
is the true meaning of our history, and that is the story 
told in these books. Alien races were compelled either 
to affiliate or go out; absorption or destruction were the 
unconscious alternatives, and if they could not be ab- 
sorbed they had to disappear in one way or another. 
The French, the Spanish, the Indians, have gone, and 
so jealous of control have we been that even the ties 
that bound us to older civilizations of Europe had to be 
ruthlessly broken. 

To anticipate a little, the dominant idea of America 
for the free Americans persisted through a Civil War of 
appalling magnitude, and until we had driven the Spanish 
flag from Cuba and the Antilles; and if I dare venture 
a prophecy, though I personally am called an Anti- 
Imperialist, this supreme idea of American Continental 
Domination will not reach its limit until there is but one 
flag from the Isthmus of Panama to the Arctic Circle, 
and that the Stars and Stripes. 

One of the greatest questions that troubles the Ameri- 
can mind is the ultimate solution of what is known as 
the race problem. How far modern ethics may modify 
ancient habit cannot be said, yet the experience of the 
past presented but two possibilities to the alien, assimila- 
tion or disappearance — and we cannot assimilate the 
negro! 

As to the particular volume in which this note appears 
let me say that to these unfamiliar subjects I have given 
more thought, study, and investigation, than to both the 
preceding books. Again, I admit the free use of all 



Prefatory Note ix 

authentic printed authorities, — among them only citing 
by name Roosevelt's great Epic, " The Winning of the 
West," — much old manuscript unprinted and some per- 
sonal recollections of ancient men, together with family 
traditions. Many of the incidents depicted, while more 
or less familiar, are not easy to come at in detail, even in 
the larger histories accessible to the people. 

The period treated of was a most important one in 
our history, and its masters must be judged according to 
their tasks. The President in a recent speech well said : 

" To conquer a continent is rough work. All really 
great work is rough in the doing, though it may seem 
smooth enough to those who look back upon it or gaze 
upon it from afar. The roughness is an unavoidable part 
of the doing of the deed. We need display but scant 
patience with those, who, sitting at ease in their own 
homes, delight to exercise a querulous and censorious 
spirit of judgment upon their brethren who, whatever 
their shortcomings, are doing strong men's work as they 
bring the light of civilization into the world's darkest 
places." 

And Stuart Edward White, a welcome young apostle 
of the west, in a recent clever novel writes: 

" When history has granted him the justice of per- 
spective, we will know the American Pioneer as one of 
the most picturesque of her many figures. Resourceful, 
self-reliant, bold; adapting himself with fluidity to di- 
verse circumstances and conditions; meeting with equal 
cheerfulness of confidence and completeness of capabil- 
ity both unknown dangers and the perils by which he 
has been educated; seizing the useful in the lives of the 
beasts and men nearest him, and assimilating it with 
marvellous rapidity; he presents to the world a picture 



Prefatory Note 






of complete adequacy which it would be difficult to 
match in any other walk of life." 

In this book I have striven to do the Pioneer justice, 
as I have striven to lay aside prejudice all through the 
series and to write fairly even of the enemy, be he Briton, 
or Indian, or Mexican, or whatever he may. And in ad- 
dition to a mere recital of heroic incidents I have endeav- 
ored to depict the characters of men like Boone, Hous- 
ton, Crockett, Brady, Sevier, Tecumseh, Bouquet, Santa 
Anna, and the rest. 

More pressing literary engagements will probably pre- 
vent the issuance of the fourth volume of the series in 
1903, as I had wished, but the next book is already 
planned under the title of Beyond the Mississippi Fighis 
and Fighters, and I hope to have it ready in 1904. 

C. T. B. 

The Normandie, 

Philadelphia, Penna., 

June, 1902. 



CONTENTS 



¥ 



Part I 
PENNSYLVANIA 

PAGE 

HOW HENRY BOUQUET SAVED PENNSYLVANIA . . i 

I. A Veteran Soldier and His Problem .... 3 

II. The March Over the Mountains .... 8 

III. The Battle of Bushy Run 13 

IV. The End of Bouquet -19 

CAPTAIN SAMUEL BRADY, CHIEF OF THE RANGERS . 21 

I. A Family of Fighters 23 

II. The First of the Borderers 27 

III. The Adventure at Bloody Spring . . . .28 

IV. Brady's Famous Leap $3 

V. An Expedition with Wetzel and Other Adventures 36 



¥ 



Part II 
VIRGINIA, TENNESSEE, THE CAROLINAS 

ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION 41 

I. Andrew Lewis and His Borderers . . . -43 

II. The Battle of Point Pleasant 48 

III. The Fate of the Participants in the Campaign . 56 



Xll 



Contents 



THE PIONEERS OF EAST TENNESSEE 

I. John Sevier a.nd the Watauga Men . 

II. "The Rear Guard of the Revolution" . 

III. The State of Franklin and its Governor 

IV. The Assembling of the Mountaineers 
V. The Dash to Catch Ferguson 

VI. King's Mountain; Launching the Thunderbolt 

VII. After the Battle 



6i 

63 
67 
68 
72 
79 
83 
91 



UNPUBLISHED ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE OF KING'S 
MOUNTAIN, BY THE REV. STEPHEN FOSTER, A PAR- 
TICIPANT 95 



Part III 



KENTUCKY 



DANIEL BOONE, GREATEST OF PIONEERS 

I. The Land Beyond the Mountains 

II. The Greatest of the Pioneers . 

III. The Exploration of Kentucky 

IV. The Settlement of Kentucky 
V. Adventures with Indians 

VI. The Defence of Boonesborough . 

VII. The Last Battle of the Revolution . 

VIII. The End of the Old Pioneer 



III 

"3 
116 
118 
122 
127 
134 
138 
146 



THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN OF BRYAN'S STATION . 149 

I. The Wives of the Pioneers 151 

II. An Oldtime Frontier Fort 153 

III. Ruse against Ruse 155 

IV. The Story of the Morgans . . . . . . 163 



Contents 



Xlll 



Part IV 
THE FAR SOUTH 



THE MASSACRE AT FORT MIMS . 

I. The Beginning of the Creek War 
II. Careless Defenders 
III. P.wiNG THE Awful Penalty . 



JACKSON'S VICTORY AT TOHOPEKA . 
I. The Last Stand of the Creeks . 
II. The Heroism of Young Sam Houston 

WHEN THE SEMINOLES FOUGHT FOR FREEDOM 

I. The Injustice of the United States . 

II. The Massacre of Dade and His Men . 

HI. After the Battle 



PAGE 

165 
167 
171 

173 

179 
181 
186 

191 
193 
197 

202 



Part V 
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 

GEORGE ROGERS CLARK AND THE GREAT NORTH- 

WEST 209 

I. The Origin of a Great Idea 211 

II. The First Success 218 

III. "The Hair-Buyer General" 224 

IV. The Terrible March 229 

V. The Capture of Vincennes 234 

VI. Forgotten ! 238 

TECUMSEH AND WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON . . 241 

I. The Greatest of the Indians 243 

II. The Protagonist of the League 248 

III. The Battle of Tippecanoe 257 

IV. The Battle of the Thames 264 



xiv Contents 



PAGE 



THE MASSACRE ON THE RIVER RAISIN . . . .269 

I. The Army of the West 271 

II. A Hazardous Expedition 274 

III. The Battle of Frenchtown 280 

IV. The Murder of the Wounded 286 

GEORGE CROGHAN AND THE DEFENCE OF FORT 

STEPHENSON 289 

I. A Boy in Command of Other Boys .... 291 

II. The Impudence of the Young Captain . . . 296 

III. Desperate Fighting . 300 



¥ 



Part VI 
TEXAS 

DAVID CROCKETT AND THE MOST DESPERATE DE- 
FENCE IN AMERICAN HISTORY . . .305 

I. A Typic.-vl American 307 

II. The Lone Star Republic 312 

III. The Mission del Alamo 314 

IV. The Hundred and Eighty against the Five Thou- 

sand 316 

THE WORST OF SANTA ANNA'S MISDEEDS . . .327 

I. The Delay at Fort Defiance 329 

II. The Battle of the Coleta 334 

III. The Massacre at Goliad 338 

SAM HOUSTON AND FREEDOM 345 

I. Some Characteristics of the Man .... 347 

II. In the Service of the Texan Republic . . . 353 

III. "The Runaway Scrape" 354 

IV. Santa Anna is Trapped 357 

V. The Battle of San Jacinto 363 

INDEX 369 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



FACING 
PAGE 



They came on with fixed bayonets without 
firing" ....... Frontispiece 

That war party was annihilated" . . . .32 

Cornstalk received them standing with wide open 
arms" 58 

Ferguson showed himself a very paladin of 
courage" 88 

The Kentuckians stood to their ground manfully 
and returned the fire" 142 

It was indeed a fearful moment for the women" . 158 

The major bent his back and pushed like mad" . 174 

■ They plunged dauntlessly into the ford, only to 
be met by the fire from coffee's riflemen on 
the farther side " 1 88 

' i can give you no more orders, lads. do your 

BEST ! " 202 

• Clark, with tragic intensity, bade them go on 

WITH THE dance" 220 

' Messengers brought letters . . . appealing for 
vengeance or protection " 250 

XV 



xvi List of Illustrations 



FACING 
PAGE 



" Proctor . . . had a fiery interview with the 
American commander" 284 

"The young subaltern did not scare a little bit". 300 

The Mission del Alamo 314 

"So he Makes a Fine End!" 324 

"She took the family far over the Allegheny 
Mountains" 348 



LIST OF MAPS AND PLANS 



PAGB 



I. Plan of the Battle of Bushy Run . . .15 
II. Plan of the Battle of King's Mountain . . 86 

III. Plan and Perspective View of Boonesborough . 126 

IV. Plan of Fort Mims 170 

V. Map of the Horse-Shoe Bend and Plan of the 

Battle 182 

VI. Plan of the Battle of Tippecanoe . . . 256 

VII. Map of Frenchtown and the Massacre on the 

Raisin ......... 278 

VIII. Map of Fort Stephenson 294 

IX. Plan of the Battle of San Jacinto , . .361 



Part I 
PENNSYLVANIA 

I 

How Henry Bouquet Saved Pennsylvania 



HOW HENRY BOUQUET SAVED 
PENNSYLVANIA 

" At once there rose so wild a yell 
Within that dark and narrow dell. 
As all the fiends, from heaven that fell 
Had peal' d the banner-cry of hell / " 

I. A Veteran Soldier and His Problem 

IN the far western part of the province of Pennsyl- 
vania on the night of the 5th of August, 1763, a 
little party of English soldiers found themselves con- 
fronted by as desperate a situation as ever menaced a 
military expedition. They were encamped upon a low 
barren hill with a few stunted trees upon it, which was 
surrounded on all sides by a thick dense forest. Not a 
fire was burning on the hill, not a light of any kind 
could be shown. The sky was overcast and no star 
sparkled like a beacon of heaven above them. 

The troops, numbering four hundred and fifty, were 
^ posted on the slopes of the hill in a large circle. Within 
this circle some three hundred pack-horses were tethered. 
On the very crest of the elevation, in the centre of the 
cordon of soldiery, a temporary breastwork had been 
made by piling in a circle bags of flour and meal which 
had been the burden of the pack-horses. Within the 
meagre shelter afforded by the enclosure so formed, 
some thirty-five desperately wounded officers and men 

3 



4 Border Fights and Fighters 

were lying. What slight attention the suffering soldiers 
received was given them in the darkness. There was 
not a drop of water on the hill. 

At irregular intervals a flash of light would lance the 
darkness of the mass of trees enclosing them like a wall, 
and the report of a musket, followed by a terrifying war- 
cry, would break the stillness of the night, apprizing the 
anxious soldiers that their 'watchful enemies were still 
there. The pickets crouching down on the slopes and 
peering into the blackness about them, kept fearful watch 
while the rest of the exhausted soldiers lay upon their 
arms full of dismal forebodings for the morrow, vainly 
endeavoring to stifle the pangs of thirst or to get a little 
sleep. Across a little ravine in front of the position 
they held, upon the slopes of a similar hill, the bodies 
of some twenty-five of their fellow-soldiers lay still and 
ghastly under the trees. The well-aimed bullet, the 
brutal tomahawk, and the terrible scalping-knife had 
done their fell work. There were no wounded there. 

The soldiers on the hill were alone in the wilderness. 
Back at Fort Ligonier, some fifty miles away, there was 
a little garrison, the major part composed of sixty in- 
valids too weak to accompany their comrades on the 
expedition. About twenty miles before them another 
small body of English soldiers, hopefully awaiting for the 
arrival of the very party in such sore straits, were tena- 
ciously defending Fort Pitt, situated at the confluence 
of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers. On all sides 
of them extended the unbroken wilderness, virgin woods, 
forests primeval, covering mountain range and valley. 
The soldiers on the hill, therefore, could hope for no 
assistance and must depend upon their own endeavors 
to extricate themselves from their desperate position. 



How Bouquet Saved Pennsylvania 5 

The locality in which they found themselves was preg- 
nant with menacing history. A few miles away, a few 
years before, twice their number of English troops had 
been utterly defeated with dreadful loss, and some of 
the same Indians who had overwhelmed Braddock with 
such terrible success, lay encamped about these men 
that night. Still nearer in time as the place was closer 
in distance, these same red men could recall the disas- 
trous beating they had given Major Grant and his High- 
landers. They had never been conquered by the white 
men — they did not mean to be then. 

Every military post on the western Pennsylvania bor- 
der, except those two mentioned, had been captured 
by these selfsame savages during the spring; their gar- 
risons had been first tortured and then murdered and 
the forts themselves burned and destroyed. All over 
the northwest the Indians had risen, animated by the 
genius and inspired by the enthusiasm of Pontiac, and 
they had fed fat their ancient grudge against the hap- 
less English. Not yet glutted by their successes and the 
ensuing slaughter, they were slowly making their way 
eastward into the populous and well-settled portions of 
Pennsylvania. 

Such a scene of rapine and murder as had followed 
the destruction of the military posts has never been 
equalled. The frontier was left entirely unprotected. 
In every clearing, where, a few months before, had dwelt 
the settler in comparative peace and security, tilling the 
soil, planting his crops and wresting from the wilder- 
ness his hard-earned livelihood; and with his wnfe and 
children devoting himself to the conquest of the country 
to the arts of peace and to the spirit of civilization, now 
stood the tottering remnants of a chimney amid the 



6 Border Fights and Fighters 

ashes of a home. Unburied bodies by hundreds, the 
prey of the wild beasts of the forest, the wolves and the 
vultures, aye, of the very swine that ranged the wilder- 
ness, gave mute attestation to the thoroughness with 
which the border had been swept by the desolating 
Indian. 

The struggling little towns clustering about the walls 
of some feeble fort, such as Shippensburg, Carlisle, and 
Bedford, were crowded with terrified fugitives. With 
their limited accommodations they were able to afford 
a shelter to but few of those who sought their protec- 
tion. Their already depleted stocks of provisions were 
soon exhausted, and famine and privation added their 
pangs to the troubles of the people. And there were 
many wounded and ill, some who had been tortured, 
shot, even scalped, who yet lived, for whom nothing 
could be done, who must needs suffer without any alle- 
viation of their anguish. 

Distracted wives who had been bereft of their hus- 
bands gathered their children about them and lay house- 
less in the fields. Starving children who had lost their 
parents wandered from group to group, their pitiful 
wailings almost unnoticed in the general misery. Here 
a mother mourned a son, there a friend longed for a 
friend. And there were many haggard desperate men, 
too, who had seen their dear ones taken from them and 
submitted to a fate too horrible to mention. These kept 
watch and ward over the huddled fugitives; and, as they 
grasped their rifles with nervous hands, with breaking 
hearts they swore eternal vengeance against the red 
man. 

And the colony of Pennsylvania did nothing to pro- 
tect its children! 



How Bouquet Saved Pennsylvania 7 

Fortunately, however, there happened to be at the 
time an officer named Henry Bouquet in command of 
the king's forces at Philadelphia. He was one of the 
most accomplished soldiers and gentlemen of his time; 
an officer, the variety of whose talents was only equalled 
by his bravery and sagacity. He had for some seven 
years held a command in America. During this time he 
had so mastered the tactics of the savage foeman, against 
whom he most often warred, that in address and cun- 
ning he proved himself able to give even the wiliest 
Indian chief a bitter lesson. Though the service he 
rendered America was of the utmost importance, though 
he manifested in the performance of it the steadiest 
courage, and exhibited the highest skill; though he 
fought, all things considered, the most brilliant and 
effective battle which was probably ever waged against 
the Indians — certainly the most notable engagement in 
which a British officer commanded — he is a forgotten 
hero and his services are now but little remembered. 

This great and gallant soldier was born in 1719, at 
Rolle in Switzerland, on the north shore of the beautiful 
lake of Geneva. Springing from an humble family and 
possessed of little fortune, he made his way upward by 
sheer force of natural ability and talent. As did many 
Swiss, he chose to follow a military career, and entered 
the Dutch service as a cadet when only seventeen years 
of age. Shifting his allegiance, as was the habit of sol- 
diers of fortune, he later became adjutant to the King 
of Sardinia, in whose employ he saw much hard service, 
in which he greatly distinguished himself. The Prince 
of Orange made him lieutenant-colonel of the Swiss 
Guards of Holland in 1748. 

After the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle he spent his time 



8 Border Fights and Fighters 

in mastering not merely military art but the polite learn- 
ing of his day as well. In 1756 he was appointed 
lieutenant-colonel commanding one of the four battalions 
of the regiment called the "' Royal Americans " which 
King George III had directed should be raised in Amer- 
ica for service in the French and Indian War. This was 
a regiment composed mainly of Pennsylvania Germans, 
and it was necessary, as the majority of the men spoke 
little or no English, that officers who should be conver- 
sant with their language should be appointed to command 
them. A special act of Parliament had been required 
in order that Bouquet and other foreigners could be 
commissioned by the English king, a most fortunate act 
indeed. The regiment performed superb service on 
many hard-fought battle-fields in the French War; and 
various detachments, since the Peace of Paris had ended 
that conflict, had made up most of the garrisons of the 
different posts in the west and northwest which had just 
been overwhelmed by the savage onslaught. 

II. The March Over the Mountains 

Sir Jeffrey Amherst, who commanded all the English 
forces in America, when he received news of the Indian 
outbreak, immediately directed Colonel Bouquet to ad- 
vance to relieve Fort Pitt, and to afford some protection 
to the distressed inhabitants of western Pennsylvania 
with whatever forces he could assemble without delay. 
Bouquet could only gather up about six hundred men 
and this he did by ordering the remnants of two regiments, 
the Forty Second Highlanders and the Seventy Seventh 
infantry, which had just been invalided home from the 
West Indies, to the front. The men were so broken by 



How Bouquet Saved Pennsylvania 9 

their arduous and wearing service in the tropics that 
they were really fit for nothing but garrison duty. Some 
of them had to be carried along on the march in wagons 
on account of their weakness. There were no other 
troops available, however, and they had to go. They 
cheerfully undertook the campaign for the relief of the 
suffering people. 

On the 3rd of July, 1763, the expedition arrived at 
Carlisle, to which point orders had been sent that sup- 
plies and transportation should be in readiness. Noth- 
ing had been done, owing to the panic of the inhabitants. 
In fact, so far from finding any supplies, Bouquet, who 
was a man of extreme sensibility, felt obliged to share 
the meagre provisions of his little army with the starv- 
ing women and children. The situation was apparently 
hopeless, but such was the energy, ability, and tact of the 
commander that eighteen days after his arrival the ex- 
pedition left Carlisle with a large number of wagons fully 
provided. Fort Ligonier, the most westerly post, except 
Fort Pitt, which still held out, was relieved by a party 
of thirty of the strongest men, who were sent ahead on 
forced march and succeeded in breaking through the be- 
sieging Indians and gaining the fort. 

Bouquet arrived at Fort Bedford on the 25th and on 
the 28th he reached Fort Ligonier. There, putting what 
supplies he could on pack-horses, and leaving his wagons 
and heavy baggage he pushed forward toward Fort Pitt 
in much apprehension. The little army followed Forbes' 
road,* which, through neglect, had become almost im- 
passable; and their progress led them through such 
scenes of desolation that the hearts of the men were in- 

♦ See my book Colonial Fights and Fighters: The Struggle for the Valley 
of the Ohio. 



lo Border Fights and Fighters 

flamed with an ever-growing desire for vengeance upon 
the red authors of the ruin. 

The army marched with the greatest care. A little 
body of backwoodsmen scouted before them, followed 
by a strong advance party, then came the main body, then 
the baggage train, then the rear-guard, while another 
party of frontiersmen covered the rear and the flanks. 
There were only thirty of these valuable adjuncts, how- 
ever, and the protection they could give and the scout- 
ing they could do, was limited. Bouquet had left the 
weakest of his men in the forts and his force now 
amounted to about five hundred men all told. 

On the 5th of August they had arrived in the vicinity 
of a little creek called Bushy Run, about twenty-five 
miles from their goal. Their advance had been subjected 
to desultory firing from time to time, so that it was per- 
fectly well known that savages were marking their 
progress. 

Early in the afternoon, in a dense wood, they came in 
touch with the Indians. The firing, which began with 
startling suddenness, was too heavy for a mere skirmish. 
The Indians were in great force and had determined to 
intercept them, having temporarily raised the siege of 
Fort Pitt for that purpose. The continual rattle of arms 
and the wild yells which rang through the wood, apprized 
the experienced leader that the engagement was fast be- 
coming serious. In fact twelve out of the eighteen men 
who led the advance were shot down almost instantly. 
Ordering the baggage and convoy to halt where they 
were on the top of the hill mentioned, and leaving the 
rear company to look after it. Bouquet hurried to the 
front followed by the main body of his soldiery. Ad- 
vancing his troops and deploying them into such a line 



How Bouquet Saved Pennsylvania n 

as the forest growth permitted, Bouquet charged through 
the woods with the bayonet. The Indians at once gave 
way before the onrush of the Highlanders and the Hght 
infantry, but when Bouquet haUed the charge and re- 
called his men lest they should become scattered, and 
he lose control of them, the savages crept back through 
the trees and resumed the engagement. 

As they had done years before to Braddock's men, so 
now they extended themselves through the wood on 
either side and endeavored to attack the British on the 
flanks. But whatever they did the soldiers met them. 
There was no panic this time on the part of those weak 
and feeble half-invalid soldiers. Bouquet was an entirely 
different man from Braddock and he had won the confi- 
dence of his men. They trusted him entirely and they 
had seen and heard too much of the Indian customs on 
their march not to know that to break and run meant 
destruction. 

Bouquet carefully manoeuvred his men through the 
trees, skilfully checking and driving back the advancing 
Indians from time to time by well-delivered volleys or 
short rushes with the bayonet. The battle was going 
favorably when firing in the rear told him that the 
Indians, who much outnumbered the English, had en- 
gaged the rear-guard. Still keeping his front to the 
enemy Bouquet withdrew his troops and posted them 
around the hill in rear of the first position, thus afford- 
ing protection to the convoy and the baggage. 

It was late in the afternoon now and until night fell 
the battle was kept up. The Indians surrounded the 
camp and fought from behind the trees. There v;as no 
more volley firing by the British, but they lay on the 
ground availing themselves of all possible cover, firing 



12 Border Fights and Fighters 

slowly and endeavoring to make every shot tell. When- 
ever the impatient Indians, growing bolder as they ap- 
parently saw their prey within their grasp, left cover and 
advanced they were driven back to the woods with the 
deadly bayonet. 

Presently the welcome night came and the attack 
ceased. The situation of the British was indeed deplo- 
rable. A line of dead men from the first hill where the 
first onset had been met, back to the camp, showed how 
faithfully they had fought and how resolutely they had 
been attacked. There were no wounded out in the 
forest glades either. The Indians ruthlessly butchered 
and scalped all who fell. Some sixty of the English had 
been killed or wounded. 

They were surrounded by a large force of savages and 
it appeared likely that the terrible experiences of the 
past would be repeated upon them on the morrow. Bou- 
quet wrote to Amherst that night, commending in brief 
soldier-like words, the steadiness and valor of his men, 
but preparing him for the worst possible results of the 
expected action, which he realized would take place on 
the morrow. He was too good a soldier not to recog- 
nize the peril of their situation and too brave a man not 
to admit it. 

With almost any other commander in the English 
service in a similar situation, the result would have been 
certain. Bouquet, however, was in himself a host. He 
knew that his only chance of escaping annihilation would 
be in bringing the savages to a stand, where he could 
deliver with his veterans such a decisive blow as would 
completely defeat them, otherwise he was doomed. The 
Indians could keep him on that hill picking ofif his men 
until they died of hunger or thirst, if nothing else. To 
retreat was impossible. 



How Bouquet Saved Pennsylvania 13 



III. The Battle of Bushy Run 

There was no sleep for the anxious commander that 
night. As he walked around the circle among his ex- 
hausted men lying on their arms, as he passed the heavy 
cordon of sentries who kept watch over those who sought 
to snatch a few moments of needed rest, as he thought 
of the helpless wounded stifling their groans with heroic 
resolution in the little enclosure on the crest of the hill, 
as he recalled the wretched women and children, the ter- 
rified inhabitants of the forts and towns who were look- 
ing to him for protection, and praying God for the 
success of his expedition which was the only barrier 
interposed between them and the red scourge sweeping 
through the forests from the westward, he sustained a 
weight of responsibility which would have crushed a man 
less stout of heart. In his desperation he concocted a 
plan whereby he fondly hoped he could extricate his 
forces from their deadly peril, and at the same time de- 
liver a crushing blow upon the Indians. 

It was a plan worthy of the keenest warrior that 
ever endeavored to conquer his foe by savage subtlety 
and woodland stratagem. Feverishly he waited for the 
morning and prayed for a favorable time and opportu- 
nity to put the plan from which he hoped so much, upon 
which so much depended, into execution. 

The night was marked by one instance of conspicuous 
heroism. From a little brook hard by the hill, practically- 
gone dry in the summer weather and therefore neglected 
by the besieging Indians, one of the frontiersmen named 
Byerly, unobserved by the savages, succeeded in the 
darkness in bringing in his hat from a hidden pool which 



14 Border Fights and Fighters 

he had discovered, a few mouthfuls of precious water 
which was given to the most severely wounded. A 
slight rain which fell toward morning also refreshed them 
somewhat, but most of the men suffered greatly from 
thirst during the night; they had had no water since 
noon of the day before. 

When the day broke over the haggard but desperate 
and determined band, the Indians resumed the attack. 
As soon as it was light enough to see, the firing began 
again. Steadily the men fought on, lying crouched behind 
such shelter or cover as they were able to come by, while 
the slow hours of the hot morning dragged away. The 
Indians, having learned by the experience of the preced- 
ing day, at first took great care not to expose themselves 
and the British sustained their fire as best they could. 
The savage warriors at once marked their commander 
from his brilliant uniform, and fired at him so constantly 
that upon the insistence of his oiiicers he changed his 
clothing to render himself less conspicuous. The small 
tree behind which he took shelter while he did this was 
hit by no less than fourteen bullets during the time. 

Many of the soldiers were struck down, and of the 
pack-horses numbers were killed and others broke 
through the lines, plunging upon the men, especially the 
wounded, and creating wild confusion in the camp. 
Their drivers as a rule proved cowardly and left the terri- 
fied animals to their own devices. Still Bouquet did not 
dare to drive the horses away. He would need them 
when he had won the battle. 

So he clung tenaciously to his position and his heroic 
men fought on uncomplainingly while he waited for the 
favorable opportunity to display the stratagem he had 
planned. For four hours the men lay on that open hill 



How Bouquet Saved Pennsylvania 15 

in the hot sun of August, without food or water, and 
kept up the engagement. The Indians, as Bouquet had 
foreseen, grew bolder from their immunity, being adepts 
at fighting under cover, and as the certainty of success 
grew upon them, they began creeping nearer and fight- 




S!l, — 
■ »l/* w- /oil. It 

Large /5WAMP 



^//nft^WTiNl^. 



Z.l/CMT /MrANTRY. 
3. BATTALION MSN. 
V. fiANCCRS. 

5. CATTLE. 

6. HOKSeS. 
TiNTQENCHMeNTS OF 

«!«Uto,\l)//^ Bags fo« wounded 
^ ,v^»i*>% '^^fi.FiRSTPoiirioNOfTRocpy 

# .•/ ..vi^ .^ 9. CRAVeS ON MILLOCH. 









3 i i ? 



# 0^ 9- C« A Ve5 ON MILLOCH . 

V 5 



'^ 'h^'^^MX^'^ 



ii^'*"t 













^'■'"llW//(\\<^ 



Plan of the Battle of Bushy Run. 



ing more recklessly. At last the colonel determined that 
the moment for striking had arrived. 

Fortunately one side of the hill was cleft by a ravine 
which gave entrance upon the surrounding valley. The 
front of the English line where the main attack was 



1 6 Border Fights and Fighters 

being made, was held by two companies of the High- 
landers. Explaining clearly to all his men what he pro- 
posed doing, and why, so there would be no panic and 
they would cany out his orders intelligently, Bouquet 
ordered these two companies suddenly to withdraw from 
the line and retreat rapidly across the hill until they 
reached the ravine, which they were to enter, advance 
down it, and hold themselves in readiness to attack from 
it. At the same time the companies on either side of 
the gap they left were ordered to extend across it in 
open order to keep the circle intact. 

At the word, the Highlanders immediately ran to the 
rear and plunged into the ravine, where their movements 
were sheltered from the view of the Indians by its depth 
and by the bushes growing on its edge. The movement 
was carried out perfectly. As the Scots rushed away 
from the field the men of the companies to the right and 
left closed the opening. 

The Indians of course saw the manoeuvre. Imagin- 
ing, naturally, that it was the beginning of a retreat, 
they abandoned their cover and came swarming out into 
the open. Pouring a furious fire upon the weakened 
line, with most unusual courage they charged deliber- 
ately at it, tomahawk and scalping-knife in hand. The 
thin line of soldiers could not stand the massed onset of 
the horde of the braves, and, although they fought hero- 
ically hand to hand for a moment, they were about to 
give way. In the very nick of time the Highlanders in 
the ravine, came running out into the open. As they 
appeared on the right flank of the Indians, without halt- 
ing they poured in a volley at point-blank range. Though 
they were greatly surprised by this unexpected dis- 
charge; the savages, who displayed the most astonishing 



How Bouquet Saved Pennsylvania 17 

resolution in this battle, at once faced about and returned 
the fire, but when they saw through the smoke the fierce 
Highlanders springing upon them, bayonet in hand, 
revenge and triumph in their stern faces, they gave way 
and fled. 

" For life I For life ! they plight their ply — 

And shriek, and shout, and battle-ay. 

And plaids a?id bonnets waving- high. 

And broadstvords flashing to the sky. 
Are maddening iti the rear ! " 

Staking everything on this manoeuvre. Bouquet, when 
he saw the Highlanders advance, broke his line again 
and threw two companies of Light Infantry out of the 
circle on the other flank. The flying Indians ran right 
into them and a final volley swept them from the field. 
The Indians in the rear of the camp had advanced to 
attack at the same time those in the front had endeavored 
to break the weakened line, but, witnessing the repulse 
of those in front, they gave way on all sides before a 
general advance and abandoned the field. 

More than sixty dead Indians lay upon the ground 
where the Highlanders and Light Infantry had charged, 
and bloody trails through the woods in the direction of 
their retreat, showed how many men had been wounded. 
They had been beaten by an inferior force in a pitched 
battle, in a fair field and an open fight. On the English 
side the loss had been very heavy. One hundred and 
fifteen, or nearly one fourth of the troops, had been killed 
or wounded. The loss of the Indians was probably 
equally as great, if not greater. But one Indian prisoner 
was taken and the men, with the memory of the scenes 
through which they had passed to animate them, shot 
him to death as he had been a mad dog. 



i8 Border Fights and Fighters 

Tactically this engagement, called the Battle of Bushy 
Run, was one of the most brilliant fights against Indians 
which ever took place on the continent, and it was ren- 
dered memorable by the fact that the savages had ex- 
hibited a willingness to join in hand to hand fighting 
which was as remarkable as it was unusual. During 
Forsyth's defence of the Arickaree in western Kansas, a 
hundred years later, the Indians there made a charge 
in the open and endeavored by close fighting to win the 
day, but that is about the only similar instance I recall. 

The expedition had been saved from destruction by 
Bouquet's brilliant tactics alone. The English were 
still, however, in a desperate state. Many of the pack- 
horses had been shot and most of the precious supplies 
had to be destroyed or abandoned. It was with the 
greatest difficulty that the w^ounded could be transported, 
yet Bouquet, making such dispositions for their comfort 
as he could, resumed their march. Camped on the bank 
of Little Turtle Creek that same evening, they were 
again attacked, but the Indians manifested little diposi- 
tion to fight after the decisive and costly defeat they 
had sustained in the morning, and they were easily 
driven away. 

On account of the condition of his men it took Bouquet 
five days to march the twenty miles between him and Fort 
Pitt. He reached it, at last, however, and relieved the 
garrison. The Indians crushed and broken by their 
defeat and seeing no prospect of making head against 
the combined forces, withdrew from that section of Penn- 
sylvania. As the various posts were re-established and 
garrisoned when re-enforcements were forwarded from 
the east, many of the old settlers, and some new ones, 
reoccupied their deserted clearings. 



How Bouquet Saved Pennsylvania 19 

IV. The End of Bouquet 

The Indians were eventually defeated everywhere in 
the general conflict which was raging through the north- 
west; and the year after his splendid hght, Bouquet led 
a brilliantly successful expedition through the country 
west of the Ohio, which brought about their complete 
submission and which resulted in the restoration of hun- 
dreds of captives to those who thought they had lost 
them forever.* 

For his extraordinary skill and courage and for the 
success of his expedition, Bouquet was thanked by the 
king and promoted to be brigadier-general. He died 
in the service at Pensacola three years afterward while 
still in the prime of life. In addition to his other claims 
upon our consideration, romance appropriates him, since 
he was the victim of an unrequited passion for a beauti- 
ful Philadelphian. Anne Willing refused to accept him 
because he was a soldier, and she married another and 
less noted man! Poor, lonely Henry Bouquet, it almost 
broke his heart. 

It seems a heartless thing to say, but the bullet that 
struck down Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham, and the 
fever that carried Bouquet away at Pensacola, did good 

* There is a touching little story of a mother with this expedition whose 
child had forgotten her and who had vainly endeavored to awaken her recol- 
lection, which illustrates one phase of Bouquet's character. "Sing her the 
song with which you put her to sleep as a baby," he said to the agonized 
woman, with a touch of inspiration. And the woman sang this hymn : — 

" Alone yet not alone am I 

Though in this solitude so drear, 
I feel my Saviour always nigh, 

He cotnes tny weary hours to cheer." 

When the little girl heard the familiar strain of her infancy, memory came 
back to her with the first verse, and at last she knew her mother. 



20 Border Fights and Fighters 

service to the country destined to become the United 
States of America ; for they were such accomphshed sol- 
diers, men of such talent and genius, that had they been 
in command of the British forces in the War of the Revo- 
lution, that struggle might have been shorter and its 
results possibly vastly different. They were both young 
enough men when they died to have been available for 
service in 1775. 

We do not find such another Indian fighter as this 
gallant Swiss in the colonial records, and it is n.oteworthy 
that the same sort of troops as were found entirely inade- 
quate to the situation when led by Braddock, proved 
themselves heroes indeed when under the command of 
a greater and abler man. 



Part I 
PENNSYLVANIA 

II 

Captain Samuel Brady, Chief of the Rangers 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL BRADY, CHIEF 
OF THE RANGERS 

I. A Family of Fighters 

AS a typical pioneer and Indian fighter I have 
chosen to include in this series some account of 
a few of the exploits and adventures of Captain 
Samuel Brady, whose name for cool daring, unremitting 
vigilance, unsparing energy, fertility of resource, and suc- 
cessful enterprise, was a household word in western 
Pennsylvania during the beginnings of the nation. 

Few families among our early settlers contributed 
more generously and freely of their best to the service 
of their country than that from which Brady sprang. 
His father, Captain John Brady — son of Hugh, the 
Prcrpositus of the family in America, who was descended 
from that famous Irish family of which the noted versifier 
of the Psalms w-as a member — like Washington and 
George Rogers Clark, was a surveyor. 

He was commissioned captain in the 2nd Pennsylvania 
Battalion in 1764 in Bouquet's expedition. He was a 
noted frontiersman prior to the Revolution, and when 
that war broke out was appointed a captain in the 
1 2th Pennsylvania Continental Line. At the Battle of the 
BrandyW'ine his regiment w'as cut to pieces in the des- 
perate fighting near the Birmingham Meeting House. 
He was badly wounded and his son John, a lad of fifteen 

23 



24 Border Fights and Fighters 

who had come Hke David of old with supplies for the 
camp, and had remained for the battle, was also wounded, 
and only saved from capture by the act of his colonel 
in throwing the boy upon a horse when the troops re- 
treated. So fierce was the fighting that every ofiicer 
in Captain Brady's company was killed or wounded, to- 
gether with most of his men. 

In 1778, Captain Brady was ordered to Fort Pitt and 
attached to the regiment of Colonel Brodhead, who was 
charged by Washington personally with the duty of pro- 
tecting the western Pennsylvania frontier from the in- 
cursions of the savages. It is estimated that there were 
at one time or another more than twelve thousand 
Indians in arms in the pay of the British. Campbell 
states that four hundred Seneca warriors in three years 
on the border, took more than one thousand scalps, two 
hundred and ninety-nine of them having belonged to 
women and tw-enty-nine to children! They were sent 
by the Indians to the Governor of Canada, to be by him 
sent as a present to the King of England. 

As most of the able-bodied men west of the moun- 
tains had enlisted in the Continental Line the valleys 
were without protection until Washington sent Brodhead 
thither. One of the frontier posts by which it was hoped 
to protect the country was located near Muncy and 
called Fort Brady in honor of its commander. 

James Brady, Captain John's second son, who was 
himself a militia captain, w'as killed near there by the 
Indians. A small party of men w^ere reaping in one of 
the fields a short distance from Loyalsock, in the fall 
of 1778. Captain James Brady was in command of 
them. Four men watched while the others w^orked. A 
large party of the Indians stole upon them unperceived 



Brady, Chief of the Rangers 25 

and opened fire, whereupon the most of them fled. 
Captain Brady ran for his gun. According to one ac- 
count, he secured it, shot one of the Indians dead, seized 
another gun, was shot himself, then stabbed by a spear, 
tomahawked, and scalped. He had long red hair. It 
is related that one of his frontier friends a week before 
his death, watching him dress and plait it in the queue, 
which was the fashion of the day, remarked to him: 

" Jim, the Indians will get that red scalp of yours 
yet." 

The young captain, who was only twenty at the time, 
laughingly replied that if they did they would have 
something to lighten their darkness for them! The red 
hair was characteristic of the family and has persisted in 
many members to the present day. Young Brady sur- 
vived his frightful wound for five days and died at Fort 
Brady in the arms of his mother, an heroic pioneer 
woman. 

A year after this, Captain John was shot and instantly 
killed by Indians, who fled from the scene of the murder 
with such precipitation that they did not scalp him, and 
his body with his watch, seals, and weapons, was re- 
covered intact. His son, Hugh, too young to fight in 
the Revolution, rose to be a Major-General in the United 
States Army. As commander of the 22nd Infantry, he 
was shot through the body in the first charge at Lundy's 
Lane. A letter from Hugh's nephew. Captain John's 
grandson, who was an officer in his uncle's regiment, 
tells how the general fell and fainted from loss of blood 
but w^as lifted to his horse and continued in command 
until nearly the close of the action. He had two horses 
killed under him in this battle and only gave up the 
command when he was unable to sit or stand from loss 



i6 Border Fights and Fighters 

of blood.* Another of Captain John's grandsons, Will- 
iam, volunteered for service in Perry's squadron and 
fought in the Battle of Lake Erie. 

There were thirteen children born to this old Pioneer 
Captain, of whom five were girls. Two boys died in 
infancy and another just before the War of 1812. The 
other five fought in every war which took place while 
they were alive. 

The most distinguished of them all, however, unless 
it be General Hugh, was the oldest, Captain Samuel 
Brady, Chief of the Rangers. On August 3rd, 1775, he 
enlisted, being then only nineteen years of age, as a 
private soldier, and was ordered to Massachusetts. He 
participated in the operations around Boston, and in the 
Battle of Long Island, where he so distinguished himself 
for bravery that he was promoted to a lieutenancy, skip- 
ping the grade of ensign. He fought at White Plains 
and was one of that ragged starved little band of men 
who clung to Washington and with which he made that 
desperate strike back at Trenton and Princeton in the 
darkest hour of the Revolution. f As one of Hand's 
riflemen at Princeton, he barely escaped capture on ac- 
count of his impetuous gallantry. 

He was brevetted a captain for gallant service at 
the Brandywine and Germantown. At the Massacre of 
Paoli, he was surrounded, pursued, and narrowly escaped 
with his life. So close were the British to him that as 
he leaped a fence they pinned him to it by thrusting 
bayonets through his blanket-coat. He tore himself 
away, shot dead a cavalryman who had overtaken him 

* See my book American Fights and Fighters. Niagara Campaign. 
\ See my book American Fights and Fighters. Washington's Greatest 
Campaign. 



Brady, Chief of the Rangers 27 

and ordered him to surrender, found safety in a swamp, 
where he gathered up some fifty-five men who had 
escaped and led them safely to the army in the morning. 
He, too, was ordered to western Pennsylvania with 
his regiment, in wdiich he appears at first as a captain- 
lieutenant. He was borne on the rolls successively of 
the Third, Sixth, and Eighth Pennsylvania Line until 
the termination of the Revolution. 



II. The First of the Borderers 

It was his services as a borderer, however, that espe- 
cially entitle him to attention. What Boone w'as to 
Kentucky and Kenton to Ohio, that Sam Brady was to 
western Pennsylvania. His services were so great that 
Colonel Brodhead successfully urged his promotion to 
a full captaincy and commended him specifically in a 
personal letter to General Washington. Indeed, on 
more than one occasion, he was selected by Washing- 
ton, through Colonel Brodhead, for certain specific and 
important duties; and there is a letter of Colonel Brod- 
head's extant, which is published in the Pennsylvania 
archives, in which the colonel states that he has just 
received a special letter of commendation for Captain 
Brady from the great Commander-in-Chief himself. Al- 
though he was only twenty-seven years old when the 
war closed he was by universal consent regarded as the 
chief ranger, hunter, scout, and frontiersman on the 
Pennsylvania border. 

The Allegheny and Ohio rivers constituted the west- 
ern and northern boundaries of the colonies. George 
Rogers Clark, Boone, and others ranged over the north- 
ern Kentucky line to protect the settlements, Poe and 



28 Border Fights and Fighters 

Wetzel around Wheeling, and Brady and his men from 
Fort Pitt to Lake Erie. His services were well-nigh 
continuous. He was always in the woods. No enter- 
prise was too dangerous for him to undertake. No 
danger was so great as to deter him. He was constantly 
employed until the war was over, and when General 
Wayne mustered an army to avenge St. Clair's defeat 
and crush the Indians, Brady was given command of all 
his scouts, rangers, and pioneers. 

Captain Brady died on Christmas Day, 1795, leaving 
a name which is still remembered in western Pennsyl- 
vania, and which has been much referred to by those 
who have written the annals of the west. Indeed the 
old settlers in their letters, reminiscences, and early 
records, do not hesitate to compare him — and not to his 
disadvantage — to the great Daniel Boone himself. 

Partly from these records and partly from family tra- 
ditions and old letters, some of his exploits have been 
preserved. I shall not attempt to give them in chrono- 
logical order. Indeed it is impossible to date some of 
them. Like every other famous borderer he has been 
made the subject of myth and legend, and heroic tale 
has grown about him, but there is good authority for 
the adventures here set down. 

III. The Adventure at Bloody Spring 

On one occasion he was ordered by Colonel Brodhead 
upon a scouting expedition. He took with him two 
tried comrades named Biggs and Bevington. Ranging 
northward from Fort Pitt, at a place above the mouth 
of the Beaver, near the present village of Fallston, where 
there was a clearing, they came upon the ruins of the 



Brady, Chief of the Rangers 29 

cabin of a settler named Gray. The Indians had just 
visited the cabin, the walls and chimney of which were 
still blazing from the torch which they had applied. 

There was not a living person to be seen. They were 
carefully reconnoitring the place when the keen ears of 
the captain detected the sound of a horse approaching. 
Fearful lest the Indians who had committed the depreda- 
tion might not have departed, Brady and his men scat- 
tered and concealed themselves. The horseman proved 
to be Gray, the master of the cabin, who had been away 
some distance on that morning. 

Brady and his companions, as was the usual custom 
on such expeditions, were dressed to resemble Indians 
and had painted their faces further to disguise themselves. 
The captain knew if he showed himself to Gray in that 
guise the settler would probably shoot him before he 
could explain, so he waited concealed until Gray passed 
him, leaped upon the horse, seized the settler in his arms 
and whispered, " Don't struggle. I'm Sam Brady." 

When the man became quiet he told him of the catas- 
trophe at his cabin. Summoning Bevington and Biggs 
the whole party cautiously made their way to the ruined 
home. Gray's state of mind may well be imagined, for 
he had left in the cabin that morning his wife, her 
sister, and five children. A careful search of the ruins 
satisfied them that there were no charred remains among 
the ashes. They were confident, therefore, that the 
Indians had taken the women and children away with 
them. 

The experienced woodsmen soon picked up the trail, 
which they cautiously but rapidly followed. The Ind- 
ians, who seemed to be in some force, made not the 
slightest effort at concealment. Brady's men had wanted 



30 Border Fights and Fighters 

to return to Fort Mcintosh and get assistance before 
they pursued. The captain of the rangers pointed out 
that to do that would cause them to lose so much time 
that they could not hope to overtake the Indians, so 
the four men resolved to press on and do the best they 
could. They swore to follow Brady's leadership and he 
promised not to desert Gray, who would have gone on 
alone if the others had failed him. 

Brady's knowledge of the country enabled him to 
foresee the path the Indians would probably take and 
by making short cuts, toward evening the party caught 
a glimpse of the Indians they were pursuing, trailing 
over a mountain a mile away. They counted thirteen 
Indians, eight of them on horseback, together with the 
two women and five children. Bringing his woodcraft 
again into play, Brady concluded that the Indians would 
stop for the night in a deeply secluded dell in a ravine 
in the mountains where there was a famous spring. The 
configuration of the ground made it possible to light a 
fire there without betraying the whereabouts of the fire- 
builders to the surrounding country. 

He therefore led his party up a little creek, which 
thereafter was known as Brady's Run, until about seven 
o'clock they reached a spur of the mountain from which 
they could look down upon the spring. Sure enough, 
there were the Indians. There, too, were the weary, 
dejected women, and the children too exhausted and too 
frightened to cry. Utterly unsuspicious of observation 
the savages made camp, built a fire and prepared their 
evening meal. 

For three mortal hours the four woodsmen lay con- 
cealed watching the camp. Finally the Indians disposed 
themselves in a semicircle, surrounding the women and 



Brady, Chief of the Rangers 31 

children, with the fire in the centre. The muskets, 
rifles, and tomahawks were piled at the foot of a tree 
some fifteen feet from the right point of the circle. One 
by one the Indians sank into slumber, as did the poor 
dejected prisoners. 

Brady had long since made his plan. There was only 
one way to kill those Indians, and that was without 
waking them. If they had fired on them they might 
have killed four, yet the odds would have been still more 
than two to one, besides which the rangers could hardly 
have fired without killing some of the women and chil- 
dren. He decided that the Indians should be knifed 
while they slept. 

Appointing Gray to take the right of the semicircle, 
Bevington the left, choosing the centre himself, and di- 
recting Biggs to secure the guns and tomahawks, the 
three men approached to within three hundred yards of 
the sleeping camp and then crept on their knees toward 
the Indians. They were forced to leave their guns be- 
hind them and trust only to scalping-knife and toma- 
hawk. It was a frightful risk, but their only chance. 

With snake-like caution and in absolute silence they 
crawled over the ground. When within fifty feet of the 
camp a dead twig cracked and broke under Biggs' hand. 
The sound woke an Indian, who lifted himself on his 
hands and stared sleepily over the fire. The four men 
were as still as death. Hearing nothing further the 
Indian sank back again. They waited fifteen minutes 
for him to get sound asleep and once more began their 
stealthy and terrible advance. They so timed their 
manoeuvres that they reached the line simultaneously. 

Three knives quietly rose and fell. Frontier knowl- 
edge of anatomy was sufficient to enable them to strike 



32 Border Fights and Fighters 

accurately, and three Indians died. Again they struck. 
And yet again. 

The third Indian that Gray struck was not instantly 
killed. He partially rose, whereupon Gray finished him 
with his tomahawk. The body of the Indian fell across 
the legs of the man next him. He opened his mouth 
to cry out, but before he could make a sound Brady's 
ready knife struck him in the heart. There were now 
only three Indians left alive. 

The women and children were awakened at the same 
time and the woods rang with their frightened screams. 
As they saw the supposed Indians, bloody knife in hand, 
looking horribly in the flickering light of the fire, the 
women and children fled to the woods. Gray pursued 
them calling their names. 

The three remaining Indians, now wide awake, at- 
tempted to rise. Brady's terrible knife accounted for 
one, his tomahawk did for the other, and Biggs, who had 
at last reached the rifles, shot the last one dead. Brady 
had killed six, Bevington and Gray each three, and Biggs 
one. That w^ar party was annihilated. 

The women and children were soon found. The 
horses, arms, and other plunder of the Indians were se- 
cured, every one of the savages was scalped, and the 
party returned in si "ty to Fort Mcintosh. The place 
bears the name of Bloody Spring to this day. 

It was the constant practice of frontiersmen to scalp 
the Indians whenever they could. It is impossible for 
us to enter into the spirit prevalent at that time, but it 
is evident that the settlers thought no more of killing an 
Indian than they would of killing a rattlesnake, or a pan- 
ther; and indeed the horrors they witnessed and which 
every one of them had felt, either in his own person, 



Brady, Chief of the Rangers 33 

or in the persons of those near and dear to them — as 
Brady's father and brother — had rendered them abso- 
hitely ruthless so far as Indians were concerned. Be- 
sides, the scalp of an Indian had a commercial value. 
In the Colonial Records of Pennsylvania, under date of 
Monday, February 19, 1781, Philadelphia, in the Minutes 
of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, of 
which Joseph Reed was President, I find the following: 

" v\n order was drawn in favor of Colonel Archibald 
Lochry Lieutenant of the County of Westmoreland, for 
the sum of 12 lbs, los. state money, equal to 2500 dol- 
lars, Continental money, to be by him paid to Captain 
Samuel Brady, as a reward for an Indian scalp, agreeable 
to a late proclamation of ihis board.'' (Italics mine.) 

This interesting document is signed by his Excellency 
Joseph Reed. He, with his associates, therefore, is 
particeps criminis in the scalp-taking business ! It was 
a government affair. 

IV. Brady's Famous Leap 

On another occasion Brady led a party of rangers into 
what is now Ohio, in pursuit of some of the Sandusky 
Indians. He ambushed them at a small lake in Portage 
County, which was known thereafter as Brady's Lake. 
The ambush was successful in that the party they were 
pursuing were most of them killed, but unfortunately a 
second and larger war party of Indians unexpectedly 
appeared on the scene in the middle of the action. 
Brady was captured after a desperate fight. Most of his 
men were killed and scalped and but few escaped. 

Rejoicing at the importance of their capture, the 
Indians deferred his torture until they could take him to 
3 



34 Border Fights and Fighters 

the Sandusky Towns which were the head-quarters for 
all the Indians in that part of the country. They re- 
solved to make his burning a memorable one and kept 
him in confinement until they could communicate with 
the surrounding tribes. 

The day of his punishment finally arrived. He was 
bound to a stake and the fires were kindled around him. 
They were in no hurry to kill him and the fires were 
kept rather low while different bodies of Indians arrived 
on the scene. In the confusion attendant upon these 
arrivals the watch upon Brady was somewhat relaxed. 
He was a man of great physical strength. He cautiously 
strained at the withes with which he was bound and 
finally succeeded in loosing them. According to some 
accounts the heat of the fire enabled him to break 
them. 

Although he was badly scorched, for he had been 
stripped of his clothing when he was tied to the stake, 
he leaped across the barrier of flame, seized, according 
to one account, an Indian squaw, the wife of the princi- 
pal chief, according to another, her child, pitched her 
into the fire, and in the alarm caused by his bold action, 
broke away. 

He had kept himself in as good physical condition as 
possible, taking what exercise he could though confined, 
and he dashed madly for his life through the woods with 
several hundred Indians upon his heels. He actually 
made good his escape. He had no arms, no clothing, 
nothing to eat. The Indians pursued him with implaca- 
ble persistence. Yet, sustained by his dauntless resolu- 
tion, he managed to keep ahead of them. For over a 
hundred miles he plunged through the woods, subsisting 
upon roots, berries or whatever he could get, until 



Brady, Chief of the Rangers 35 

finally he came to the Cuyahoga River, near what is now 
Kent in Portage County. 

He had intended to cross the river at Standing Rock, 
a noted ford, but found that the Indians had intercepted 
him. The river at the point where he struck it, flowed 
between steep rocky banks rising some twenty-five feet 
from the water's edge. It was a deep roaring torrent. 
At the narrowest point, at that time, it was between 
twenty-five and thirty feet across to the opposite bank, 
which was not quite so precipitous as that upon which 
he stood, being rough and somewhat broken. 

Having cut him off from the ford, the Indians be- 
Heved that they could take him without fail in the cul de 
sac formed by the river. There was no other ford for 
miles up and down. Running back into the woods tow- 
ard the approaching Indians whose shouts he could hear 
to get a start, Brady desperately jumped from the bank. 
He cleared the river and struck the bank on the other 
side a few feet below the edge and scrambled up it just 
as the first pursuer appeared. 

" Brady," said the man, " make damn good jump. 
Indian no try." 

The Indians, however, shot at Brady and wounded 
him in the leg before the captain could escape. Without 
waiting he resumed his flight, but his wounded leg so 
hampered him that the Indians who had crossed the 
ford were again hard upon his heels. In this extremity he 
plunged into the water at Brady's Lake, where he had 
been captured, stooped beneath the surface, and concealed 
himself among the lilies, breathing through a hollow 
reed. The Indians followed his bloody trail to the lake, 
around which they searched for some time and seeing 
no sign of his exit concluded that he had plunged in 



36 Border Fights and Fighters 

and was drowned. He afterward succeeded in getting 
safely back to the fort. 



V. An Expedition with Wetzel and Other 
Adventures 

The year 1782 was a remarkable one for savage Indian 
outbreaks. It was known in local border history as 
" The Bloody year," or " The Bloody '82." Rumors of 
a grand alliance between the western tribes to descend 
upon the settlements and finally wipe them out, reached 
Washington, and the general requested Colonel Brod- 
head to send reliable persons to spy on the Indians and 
if possible find out what they were about to do. The 
choice, as usual, fell upon Brady. He asked but for one 
companion, who was the famous Lewis Wetzel. 

Brady and Wetzel were familiar with the Indian 
tongue. They could speak Shawnese or Delaware like 
the natives themselves. Contrary to the family habit 
Brady was a swarthy man, with long black hair and 
bright blue Irish eyes, taking after his mother in that. 

The two men disguised themselves as Indians, de- 
liberately repaired to the grand council at Sandusky,, 
representing themselves to be a deputation from a distant 
sept of Shawnees, which was desirous of joining in the 
projected conspiracy. They moved freely about among 
the Indians at first entirely unsuspected. They partici- 
pated in the council and obtained a complete knowledge 
of the plans and purposes of the Indians. 

One veteran chief, however, finally became suspicious. 
Perhaps he detected the white man through the guttural 
syllables, or the white faces under the war paint. The 
two men whose every nerve had been pressed into ser- 



Brady, Chief of the Rangers 37 

vice and whom nothing escaped, caught the suspicious 
glances of the old man. Consequently when he sprang 
to his feet and seizing a tomahawk started toward them, 
it was the work of a second for Brady to shoot him dead. 

Concealment being no longer possible, Wetzel shot a 
prominent chief, the men clubbed their rifles, beat down, 
opposition, sprang away from the council fires, dashed 
through the lines, seized two of the best horses — Ken- 
tucky stock which had been captured in a raid — and rode 
for their lives. They were pursued, of course, by a great 
body of Indians, and had many hairbreadth escapes. 

Wetzel's horse finally gave out and thereafter the two 
men, one riding the other running, pressed madly on. 
Finally the second horse, fairly ridden to death, gave 
way, but reaching a village of some friendly Delawares, 
they got another horse and dashed on. Several times 
they doubled on their trail and shot down the nearest 
pursuers, checking them temporarily. 

Finally they reached the Ohio. It was bank full, a 
roaring torrent. It was early in March, and the weather 
was bitterly cold. They forced their horse into the 
water, Brady on its back, Wetzel, who was the better 
swimmer, holding its tail and swimming as best he could. 
They had a terrible struggle but reached the other bank 
at last. The water froze on their bodies. Wetzel was 
entirely exhausted and almost perished with the cold. 
Brady killed the horse, disembowelled it and thrust his 
companion's body into the animal, hoping that the ani- 
mal heat remaining in it might keep Wetzel alive while 
he built a fire, which he recklessly proceeded to do. 

As soon as the fire was kindled he took Wetzel out 
of the body of the horse and brought him to the fire 
where he chafed his limbs until the circulation was re- 



38 Border Fights and Fighters 

stored. The Indians gave over the pursuit at the Ohio, 
and the two men escaped. 

The plans of the Indians being discovered by this 
daring exploit, the settlements prepared for them, the 
conspiracy fell to pieces, and the projected incursion 
came to naught. 

Words fail to tell of the many incidents in which this 
dashing young pioneer bore a prominent part. The 
enterprise for which he was commended by Washington 
was similar to the one just described. He went alone 
to the Sandusky Towns in 1780 and made a map of the 
region, located the towns, crept near enough to the 
principal village to learn the plans of the Indians, capt- 
ured two squaws, mounted them on captured horses and 
made good his escape. 

Near the Ohio one of the squaws escaped. With the 
other, ranging through the forest, he came across an 
Indian on horseback with a woman on the pommel of 
the saddle and two children running alongside. Recog- 
nizing the woman as the wife of a frontiersman named 
Stupes, Brady, by a wonderful exhibition of marksman- 
ship, shot the Indian dead without injuring the woman. 

" Why," said Jenny Stupes, as she saw the painted 
figure of the captain, for he was still in his disguise, 
dashing toward her scalping-knife in hand, " did you 
shoot your brother? " 

" Don't you know me, Jenny? I am Sam Brady," 
said the captain, grasping the terrified woman by the 
hand. 

Taking Jenny and her children and still retaining his 
prisoner, he rapidly retreated toward the settlements. 
The Indian he had shot had been separated from a small 
band which happened to have retained Jenny Stupes' 



Brady, Chief of the Rangers 39 

little dog. By the aid of the animal, which naturally ran 
after its mistress, the fugitives were trailed. At the time 
he shot the Indian Brady had but three loads for his rifle. 
He could not afford to expend one of them on the dog 
yet it had to be killed or it would betray its mistress. 
They sat down and waited until the dog came running 
up to them, when he was speedily despatched with a 
tomahawk, and Brady succeeded in bringing the party 
safely to Fort Pitt. 

He was several times captured. On one occasion he 
rolled to a fire in the night, burnt his bonds, brained one 
of the Indians with a stake and got away. 

At another time, after a long scouting expedition, he 
suddenly came upon two Indians near a huge tree. One 
was standing on the shoulders of the other cutting bark 
for a canoe. Brady had but one load for his rifle. 
Quickly deciding what to do he shot the lower Indian 
through the heart, whereupon the other one came tum- 
bling heavily to the ground. He was partially stunned. 
Brady ran toward him knife in hand but the Indian stag- 
gered to his feet and fled, by which the captain came 
in possession of two guns and a supply of ammunition 
and was enabled to proceed on his expedition. 

Whenever there was danger or loss his services were 
at command. Not only did he serve his country in sev- 
eral of the battles in which he commanded his company 
both in the east against the British, and in several expe- 
ditions against the Indians in the west, but he did more 
to guard the helpless settlers, rescue captured women 
and children, and to discover and thwart the Indian plans 
than any man in Pennsylvania. The women and chil- 
dren loved him and the men swore by him, for he was 
the protector of the frontier. 



40 Border Fights and Fighters 

From these gruesome tales it must not be imagined 
that he was only a blood-thirsty and reckless borderer. 
On the contrary, like most of his family, he was a devout 
Presbyterian, and a marvellous student of the Bible. 
His grandnephews and nieces tell how he used to arrive 
at the cabin in which they lived, after some expedition, 
and when the evening meal was over and the lesson of 
Scripture with which these simple people prepared for 
rest, was read, Captain Sam Brady would suggest that 
they read it " varse about; " and they relate that when 
his turn came he generally recited his verse without the 
aid of the book, such was his mastery of the Bible ! To 
his family and friends he was as kind and gentle as a 
woman. A family tradition says that he was the model 
for Cooper's famous Leatherstocking. 

His brother, General Hugh, says that James Brady, 
who was killed by the Indians, was six feet one inch in 
height and that there was scarcely an inch difference in 
height among all the brethren. Sam was a man of great 
personal strength and activity. His favorite resting-place 
when at home was on the floor by the open fireplace. 
There he would lie and tell stories to the children who 
adored him. There he slept rolled in his blanket. 

He was a singular mixture of the Puritan and Cavalier. 
He could pray like an old Covenanter and fight with all 
the dash and spirit of Prince Rupert. Pennsylvania 
owes him a debt of gratitude which should never be for- 
gotten. 



Part II 
VIRGINIA, TENNESSEE, THE CAROLINAS 

I 

On the Eve of the Revolution 



ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION 

I. Andrew Lewis and his Borderers 

AROUND the pedestal of Crawford's Equestrian 
Statue of Washington in Richmond, among those 
of Jefiferson, Patrick Henry, John Marshall, and 
other worthies, is carved the figure of a huge man dressed 
in a fringed hunting-shirt and carrying a rifle. It is the 
efiigy of General Andrew Lewis, one of the greatest of 
the borderers. 

Lewis was born in Ireland in 1720. His father was a 
Huguenot, who came to America after a quarrel when 
Andrew was a child. The family settled on the western 
border of Virginia near what is now Staunton, and 
speedily became prominent. Andrew was the oldest of 
four brothers, all of whom did good service in the colo- 
nies and in the Revolution. Three of them were sol- 
diers, one of whom died in battle, and the last, prevented 
from active campaigning by physical disabilities, shone 
as statesman, was an associate of Patrick Henry, after- 
ward a member of the Virginia Constitutional Conven- 
tion, and in every way possible did what he could for 
the cause of liberty. 

Andrew was the most conspicuous member of the 
family. He was one of the little band under Washington 
that fought off Coulon de Villiers at Fort Necessity in 
the Great Meadows, at the breaking out of the French 

43 



44 Border Fights and Fighters 

and Indian War. Lieutenant Lewis was wounded on 
this occasion. As captain he formed part of Braddock's 
army in 1756, where, although he was not in the ac- 
tual battle on the Monongahela, he did good service 
under Washington in endeavoring to protect the rav- 
aged border after the overwhelming defeat of the 
British.* 

In 1759 he was major of Washington's regiment under 
General John Forbes. He participated in Grant's foray 
against Fort Duquesne, where he was involved in the 
defeat of that rash officer's foolish enterprise. He was 
there captured after a desperate hand to hand tight in 
which he was wounded again. When Grant, seeking a 
scapegoat, strove to cast upon Lewis the odium of his 
defeat, the Virginian in a towering rage at the false ac- 
cusation, spat in his face and knocked him down. Grant 
did not press the charge thereafter. 

Promoted a colonel in 1759 he led an expedition 
against the Shawnees which, through no fault of his, was 
without decisive results, and which is known as the 
" Sandy Creek Voyage," or campaign. He was a com- 
missioner from Virginia at the celebrated treaty at Fort 
Stanwix in 1768. Lewis was six feet two in height, and 
of Herculean proportions and strength otherwise, al- 
though he carried himself with great activity. " His 
countenance was stern and forbidding — his deportment 
distant and reserved; this rendered his person more 
awful than engaging." So writes a contemporary, who 
further relates that the Governor of New York, one of 
his fellow commissioners at Fort Stanwix, wrote of him, 
" that the earth seemed to tremble at his tread." 

* See my book Colonial Fights and Fighters : The Struggle for the Valley 
of the Ohio. 



On the Eve of the Revolution 45 

In 1774 there was a little war with the Indians at 
first known as Cresap's War, but latterly as Lord Dun- 
more's War, the importance of which was so over- 
shadowed by the Revolution that followed hard upon it 
that, but for one incident, it would be quite forgotten 
to-day. Yet the student now sees it was quite essential 
to the prosecution of the greater war, to the first success 
of which it contributed in no small degree. 

The treaty consequent upon Bouquet's expedition in 
1764, was not rigidly observed by the Indians. There 
was constant trouble on the border, although nothing 
like what had before obtained. The Indians continued 
restless and active; there was a continual clashing of 
arms everywhere and, in this instance decidedly, the sav- 
ages were mainly the aggressors. That is not saying 
that the settlers were blameless. Far from it, but the 
balance of wrong-doing was against the Indians. 

To these unsettled conditions the unseemly strife be- 
tween Virginia and Pennsylvania for the possession of 
the lands west of the Blue Ridge and Alleghenies largely 
contributed. In 1774 matters had reached such a state 
that it was felt that an open war must soon break out. 
Active hostilities were begun, under great provocation, 
in the spring by a certain Captain Cresap, who led a 
party of frontiersmen to the wilderness surveying, etc. 
Some Indians were fired upon by Cresap's party and 
killed, and the action, though small, was known as the 
" Captina Affair." 

Some forty miles west of Pittsburg on the Ohio, there 
lived among the Mingos, or Shawnees, a Cayugan — that 
is, an Iroquois — warrior, named Tah-gah-jute, who is 
more commonly known to posterity by the name given 
him by the settlers, Logan. Among the warring 



46 Border Fights and Fighters 

tribes, Logan had exercised a strict neutrality. Rather 
more. He had befriended the white men on many occa- 
sions. 

The most serious happening, which finally put an end 
to possibilities of even the quasi-peace which might have 
been maintained, was the unprovoked murder of Logan's 
entire family, including women and children, by a ruf- 
fianly trader named Greathouse, on April 30th, 1774. 
These Indians were first made drunk and then ruthlessly 
butchered without opportunity of defence, and for no 
occasion whatsoever. 

The cruel murder turned the peaceable Logan into a 
fiend. With a few companions he declared war on his 
own account at once. Thinking that Cresap had ordered 
the massacre, although he was entirely innocent of it, 
and was, as frontiersmen go, too honorable a man to 
have done it, Logan sent him a defiance and began to 
raid the border. As usual, the vengeance fell on the in- • 
nocent. No less than thirty people were killed by him 
before the authorities were awakened. 

Lord Dunmore, the Royal Governor of Virginia, acted 
with commendable promptness. He embodied the mili- 
tia of the counties west of the Blue Ridge and called for 
volunteers. The left wing was ordered to rendezvous at 
the Great Levels of the Greenbriar, now Lewisburg, and 
was placed under the command of General Andrew 
Lewis. The other division, under the command of 
Dunmore himself, assembled at Frederick. Lewis was 
ordered to lead his men over the mountains until he 
struck the Kanawha, down which he was to march until 
he came to the place where it flowed into the Ohio. 
There Dunmore, who was to march through Potomac 
Gap to the Ohio, was to meet him, and the two divisions 



On the Eve of the Revolution 47 

conjoined were to march up the Scioto to the Shawanee 
Indian towns, which they were to destroy. 

The movement was vastly agreeable to the old back- 
woodsman, and the sturdy pioneers of western Virginia 
were embodied under their local officers and repaired to 
his standard at Camp Union with joyous alacrity. Colo- 
nel Charles Lewis, the brother of the general, led some 
four hundred men from Augusta; Colonel William Flem- 
ming an equal number from Botetourt. From over the 
mountains came the settlers from the Holston and the 
Watagua in Fincastle County, led by Colonel William 
Christian. There was also an independent company led 
by Colonel John Field. 

Among the subordinate officers were men destined 
afterward to achieve a wide reputation. Captain Evan 
Shelby commanded a company in which his son Isaac 
was first lieutenant. Isaac was afterward one of that 
dauntless band which wiped out Ferguson, and when he 
was a very old man and the Governor of Kentucky, he 
led his volunteers to the assistance of William Henry 
Harrison, and participated in the defeat of Tecumseh at 
the Battle of the Thames—" Old King's Mountain " 
they called him. Another captain was Benjamin Harri- 
son, one of the signers of the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence from Virginia, and the ancestor of two of our Pres- 
idents. Valentine Sevier, brother of the great pioneer 
of Tennessee, was with the force. A humble sergeant in 
the ranks was one James Robertson, whose name is held 
in the highest esteem in western Tennessee. 

Others who participated in the war, although not with 
Lewis' command, were George Rogers Clark, Simon 
Kenton, Daniel Morgan, and the afterward infamous 
renegade Simon Girty. In one way or another nearly 



48 Border Fights and Fighters 

everyone of prominence afterward in the then far west, 
served in the war. Daniel Boone commanded three 
small frontier forts. John Sevier was a captain, and 
among the ofificers and soldiers were many men Hke 
General George Matthews, the hero of Germantown, 
General Andrew Moore, the first and only man ever 
elected to the United States Senate by Virginia from the 
west of the Blue Ridge, and many others of importance, 
although most of them are now more or less forgotten. 
In quality Lewis' force was remarkably high. They 
were in the main an undisciplined lot, who submitted 
grudgingly to his rule and would probably have utterly 
refused to obey anybody else. They knew nothing of 
the tactics of soldiers, but they were an unsurpassed body 
of border fighters. 

II. The Battle of Point Pleasant 

The assemblage began about the first of September 
and was nearly completed on the seventh. 

On the eighth, the first division started accompanied 
by four hundred pack-horses loaded with flour and driv- 
ing one hundred and eight beef cattle. Field and his 
company followed them and soon joined them. A few 
days afterward the second division marched out with two 
hundred pack-horses and the balance of the cattle. The 
march led straight across the mountains. There was no 
road ; not even a trail. The men had to cut their way 
through the timber. Such a thing as wagon transporta- 
tion was absurd and unheard of. They made good time, 
however, all things considered, and their progress was 
greatly facilitated when they reached the Kanawha at the 
mouth of the Elk, and marched down its banks. 



On the Eve of the Revolution 49 

They arrived at the mouth of the river on the 6th of 
October, having traversed one hundred and sixty-five 
miles of primeval forest and rugged mountain range. 
Colonel Christian, with some two hundred men, had been 
left behind at the camp to bring up the rear-guard and 
the balance of the supplies. The pack-horses were un- 
loaded when they reached the Kanawha and the supplies 
were floated down the river in canoes or on rafts. The 
horses were then sent back to the Greenbriar to bring 
up the remainder of supplies under the direction of Colo- 
nel Christian, who was very unwilling to delay his ad- 
vance to take the part assigned. 

Arrived at the mouth of the Kanawha, according to 
one account they found a note in a hollow tree which 
had been put there by Kenton and Girty; according to 
another, they were met by these men with letters from 
Dunmore ordering Lewis to march up the Ohio to join 
Dunmore's force. Lewis' men were greatly exhausted 
by their terrible march. They were not yet all assem- 
bled, and it would not be safe to leave Colonel Christian 
and his three hundred men alone in the wilderness, so 
he determined to delay his departure until the rear-guard 
had joined him. 

The ninth was Sunday. The assemblage was by no 
means the godless, reckless crowd which we naturally 
imagine it might have been, for it is related that they 
had services conducted by a chaplain in which the hardy 
Scotch-Irish Presbyterians lustily took part, Lewis set- 
ting the example, although personally he was an Episco- 
palian. On the morning of the tenth two young men 
started out before daybreak on a hunting expedition. 
Some four or five miles from the camp they ran into a 
large body of Indians. One was shot dead before he 



so Border Fights and Fighters 

could get away and the other killed an Indian, made his 
escape, and ran post-haste to the camp bearing the alarm. 

The chief of the Shawnees, who were to the middle 
west what the Iroquois were to the north and the Creeks 
to the south, was a veteran warrior named Cornstalk. In 
every war on the border he had borne a prominent part. 
Ruthless and ferocious, as all the Indians were, he was 
not without redeeming qualities. He was a man of the 
greatest courage and capacity. Indeed he showed a 
grasp of military science and tactics unusual in one of 
his race. The Indians were perfectly aware of the ad- 
vance of the Virginians. They knew they were coming 
in two widely separated armies, and Cornstalk determined 
to fall upon the weaker body and crush it before it had 
time to effect a junction with the other, with which he 
could then deal. It was sound strategy. 

Massing his warriors, whose number about equalled 
the Americans — say eleven hundred on each side — he led 
them down the river designing to fall upon Lewis' camp 
in the night and annihilate his force. The fortunate dis- 
covery by the two hunters in a measure frustrated his 
plans. Realizing that the escaping fugitive would give 
the alarm. Cornstalk at once put his band in motion.. 
They were ferried across the Ohio in rafts and came tear- 
ing through the woods close on th'e heels of the fugitive, 
thinking, as they phrased it, to drive the borderers " like 
bullocks into the river." 

As soon as the alarming message had been delivered 
Lewis ordered the long roll to be beaten. Some of the 
men were not yet awake when the first rattle of the drum 
echoed through the forest. They sprang to their arms 
instantly, however, and fell into such line as their undis- 
ciplined condition permitted. 



On the Eve of the Revolution 51 

The camp had been made at the confluence of, and 
between, the two rivers. On the left lay the Ohio, on 
the right the Kanawha. There was little chance, there- 
fore, of either flank being turned. It was a good place 
for defence, although if the American line were thor- 
oughly broken the troops would be annihilated, for there 
would be no way of escape, being penned in between the 
Indians and the river. 

No one at the time believed that the Indians were more 
than a scouting party; they never dreamed that the 
whole hostile force w'as upon them. Colonel Charles 
Lewis with one hundred and fifty men was ordered to 
march up the right flank along the Kanawha, Colonel 
Flemming with a like force was ordered up the left flank. 
Colonel Field was ordered to hold himself in readiness 
to advance in the centre with another party. The rest 
of the men were put in a state of preparation and kept 
in hand by Lewis himself until he could determine what 
was to happen. 

The time was not long in coming. First one musket- 
shot, then another and another, then a roaring fusillade, 
apprized the listeners that here was no skirmishing party 
but an attack in heavy force, and not three quarters of 
a mile from the main camp. It w^as evident that the 
Indians were in sufficient numbers to cover the whole 
line between the rivers. 

Back with the main body Lewis was calmly waiting. 
He had just taken out his pipe when the first rifle-shot 
rang out. Coolly waiting until he had completed the 
lighting of his pipe, the sturdy backwoodsman quickly 
sent Field's column forward to connect the two columns 
led by Charles Lewis and Flemming. The men dashed 
eagerly and gallantly through the woods until they 
reached the battle line. 



52 Border Fights and Fighters 

The Americans had taken to the trees as the Indians 
had done and the battle was raging fiercely. Colonel 
Charles Lewis, a veteran of the French and Indian War, 
with a brilliant record for courage and skill, disdained 
the use of cover and walked about through his command 
encouraging his men. He was shot and mortally wound- 
ed. On the other f^ank Colonel Flemming, another 
veteran, while holding his men bravely up to the battle, 
was shot through the lung so severely that his life was 
despaired of. 

The Indians were massed in force in front of these two 
bodies. There were probably three Indians to one white 
man at the point of contact and their firing was terrible. 
The trees ofi^ered little or no protection. Disheartened 
by the loss of the two commanding officers the Virgin- 
ians began to give ground. One moment more would 
have turned their w^ithdrawal into a disastrous retreat, 
which would have ruined the whole command, when 
Colonel Field arrived on the ground with his column and 
restored the line. 

Captain Evan Shelby, who had succeeded to the com- 
mand of the right flank after the wounding of Charles 
Lewis, managed to rally his men and the line held; 
Seeing now that the battle was general, leaving a small 
force to protect the camp and watch the river flanks. 
General Lewis led his force forward into the battle, the 
men extending in a long line which reached from river 
to river for a distance of a mile and a quarter. He got 
to the front just in time; Colonel Field had been killed 
and the fine was wavering again. 

The Indians exhibited a most desperate and gallant 
offence. They made charge after charge upon the Vir- 
ginians, hurling themselves on the lines again and again; 



On the Eve of the Revolution S3 

and many a grim, hand-to-hand conflict was fought out 
in the depths of woods between white and red man. 
The forest was full of smoke and fire, and rang with shots, 
yells, and cheers. Tomahawks and knives were freely 
used. Lewis was everywhere in the thick of the fray, 
cool and calm, encouraging his men and doing every- 
thing that a brave commander could do to ensure a vic- 
tory, but what the end was to be was not easy to foresee. 

The Indians were brilliantly led by old Cornstalk, who 
showed himself a hero. His voice could be heard above 
the din of the battle exhorting his braves to stand like 
men, to fight it out, to be strong. The suddenness of 
his attack and the tactics employed, wdiich consisted in 
alternate advance and retreat, made the battle the most 
fiercely contested of any the Indians had ever taken part 
in on the continent. During the heat of the action Corn- 
stalk was seen to cut down a cowardly savage with his 
tomahawk. 

All day long the battle raged, but toward the late 
afternoon the superior steadiness of the Americans began 
to tell. Cautiously covering themselves, they advanced 
from tree to tree, slowly forcing the stubborn Indians to 
retreat. There was no rout, however, on the part of the 
savages, and Cornstalk managed his retreat in a way that 
would have done credit to a veteran European captain. 
His tactics were masterly. He would hurl a body of his 
Indians on the American advance, throw them into con- 
fusion for a moment, and before they could rally he 
would withdraw his attacking party, and when the Amer- 
icans came on again they would be confronted by a new 
line. The loss among the Americans was fearful. 

Finally toward evening the Indians reached a heavily 
wooded rise of ground from which they could not be 



54 Border Fights and Fighters 

driven. The battle so far was a drawn one, the advan- 
tage if anything, being with the Americans, except in 
the matter of loss. 

Lewis, finding that Cornstalk had at last definitely 
stopped the advance of his army, detached three com- 
panies with Isaac Shelby in the lead, to march up the 
Kanawha until they came to Crooked Creek, up which 
they were to proceed until they got in rear of the Ind- 
ian line, which they were immediately to assault. The 
movement was a brilliant one, and as soon as the crack 
of muskets and rifles apprized the general that Shelby's 
detachment had engaged, he ordered a final advance on 
the Indian line, which, however, did not wait the Ameri- 
can attack. 

Mistaking Shelby's party for the re-enforcements un- 
der Colonel Christian, which they knew were due, the 
Indians withdrew in good order, carrying most of their 
dead with them, and the battle ended leaving the Ameri- 
cans in possession of the field. They had paid a heavy 
price for their victory. Seventy-five officers and men 
had been killed and one hundred and forty wounded, 
over half of them very seriously. The loss among the 
officers was unusually severe. The Indian loss has never, 
been ascertained, but it was very heavy, although not so 
great as that of the Americans, which was over twenty 
per cent. Logan was not present at this battle. 

Colonel Christian, to whom expresses had been sent, 
arrived on the field that night. Waiting several days to 
bury the dead, attend to the wounded, and erect a fort 
for their protection, Lewis left three hundred men on the 
battle field at Point Pleasant — so the place was called — 
crossed the Ohio and marched up the Pickaway plains 
to join Dunmore. His men were filled with wrath 



On the Eve of the Revolution 55 

against that commander. They thought he had betrayed 
them to the Indians, that he had placed them in a posi- 
tion subject to attack, and then had left them without 
succor; that he never intended to meet them. 

It was charged afterward that Dunmore would not 
have been disappointed if the Virginians had been wiped 
out on this occasion. The disaffection which culminated 
in the Revolution six months later, was already widely 
prevalent in Virginia, and the men thought that Dun- 
more, as Royal Governor, would have been glad to have 
weakened the forces of the colonies by the annihilation 
of this large detachment. 

There is not much to admire in the character of Dun- 
more. When the Revolution came, it is plain that he en- 
deavored to incite not only a servile insurrection among 
the slaves but also to throw the savages upon the border; 
but there is absolutely no foundation for the assertion 
that he played false in this instance, and we must acquit 
him of the charges made which have remained current 
for many years. 

Indeed he seems to have acted with considerable ca- 
pacity as well as courage, for he adroitly took advantage 
of the victory to make a treaty with the Indians, to which 
they assented in spite of the strenuous efforts of Corn- 
stalk and others to constrain them to continue the war. 
And the peace was of lasting benefit to the rebellious 
colonies, for the remembrance of their defeat kept the 
Indians quiet during the early years of the Revolution; 
just at the time, in fact, when their antagonism would 
have been most serious in the colonies. 

None of these things were then realized, and when 
Dunmore and Lewis met, such was the state of affairs 
that a guard of fifty men was required to prevent the 



S6 Border Fights and Fighters 

undisciplined pioneers from taking summary vengeance 
for the supposed treachery of Dunmore by putting him 
to death. Lewis himself cherished great animosity to 
Dunmore. 



III. The Fate of the Participants in the Campaign 

When the chiefs met at Camp Charlotte to sign the 
treaty, Logan was not with them. He had refused to 
be present, professing that he would be unable to con- 
trol himself in the presence of the race which had so 
bitterly wronged him. Knowing that no peace could be 
permanent or valid without Logan's assent to it, an en- 
voy, a veteran frontiersman, was sent to him to secure 
his ratification. 

To him Logan made a speech, very famous indeed, 
and much quoted in history and in reading books, and 
which used to be a great favorite with the youthful de- 
claimers of the public schools, though now fallen into 
disuse and neglect. It is this speech which, in a meas- 
ure, has kept alive the remembrance of the war and of 
Logan himself. It is undoubtedly the finest specimen of 
savage eloquence extant, and compares with any effort 
of the kind, civilized or otherwise. 

Although its authenticity has been questioned, it may 
be fairly considered as a faithful report of the old chief- 
tain's impassioned words. Most investigators now ac- 
cept it as genuine. The messenger took it down in 
writing and translated it literally at the first opportunity, 
and it was immediately given to the world. Several 
versions of it exist. Although it does an injustice, un- 
wittingly, to the brave Cresap, a soldier in the Revolu- 
tion until he died — he is buried in Trinity churchyard, 



On the Eve of the Revolution 57 

New York, by the way — it is here subjoined in its ap- 
proved form : 

" I appeal to any white man if he ever entered Logan's 
cabin hungry and he gave him no meat; if ever he came 
cold and naked and he clothed him not? During the 
course of the long and bloody war, Logan remained idle 
in his camp, an advocate for peace. Such was my love 
for the whites that my countrymen pointed as I passed 
and said, ' Logan is the friend of the white man.' I had 
even thought to have lived with you, but for the injuries 
of one man. 

" Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood and 
unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan, not 
even sparing my women and children. There runs not 
a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. 
This called on me for revenge. I have sought it. I 
have killed many. I have fully glutted my vengeance. 

" For my country I rejoice at the beams of peace; 
but do not harbor a thought that mine is the joy of fear. 
Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to 
save his life. 

" Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one." 

Roosevelt aptly calls it " no message of peace, nor an 
acknowledgment of defeat, but instead, a strangely 
pathetic recital of his wrongs, and a fierce and exultant 
justification of the vengeance he had taken." 

Logan afterward fell into bad habits; he drank to 
excess, and constantly. He participated in the attacks 
on the Kentucky settlements during the Revolution, 
particularly in the massacres at Martin's and Ruddle's 
Stations. He was killed by another Indian in a drunken 
brawl — a melancholy end indeed. 

Lewis' conduct in the battle has been called in ques- 
tion by no less an historian than Bancroft, but unjustly, 
and most modern investigators give him full credit for 



58 Border Fights and Fighters 

undaunted courage and devotion. That Washington 
continued to be his warm personal friend and that he 
recommended him for a major-generalcy at the outbreak 
of the Revolution, and privately implored him to con- 
tinue in the service when his merits were passed over 
and he was given only a brigadier's commission, is evi- 
dence enough of his efficiency and the esteem in which 
his contemporaries held him. 

Singularly enough to Lewis in the Revolution was 
committed the task of finally expelling Dunmore from 
the state of Virginia. He accomplished this in his usual 
thoroughgoing manner. He did not make much of a 
mark in the war subsequently, however. The fact that 
he had been passed over imjustly rankled in his mind 
and at last he resigned his command as John Stark and 
many others had done. His health, too, gave way; he 
had been subjected to much exposure in his many hard 
campaigns, and he died in 1780. 

The fate of Cornstalk is a melancholy example fre- 
quently met with in our records, of our dealings with 
the Indian. In 1777, the old chief came to the com- 
mander of Point Pleasant, Captain Matthew Arbuckle, 
to warn him that the Sha\Miees were contemplating 
going on the warpath; that he was endeavoring to re- 
strain them, but he feared his success would be slight. 
He also said that if they declared war he should be forced 
to join them as they were his people. With a fatuity 
which can hardly be understood, for he was removing 
the sole check upon the Shawnees, the American captain 
thereupon immediately made Cornstalk a prisoner, in 
defiance of ever}- law or custom of civilized nations. 

The old chief seems to have had a premonition that 
his race was run and for himself he did not greatlv care. 






On the Eve of the Revolution 59 

He had warred enough to satisfy even the heart of a 
savage and was ready for his end. After he had been 
a captive for some time his son Ellinipsico came to visit 
him accompanied by two or three other Indians. The 
day after their arrival two soldiers ranging the woods 
were fired upon by a party of Indians and one was killed. 
Charging that the Indians who had committed this of- 
fence had been brought there by Ellinipsico, the enraged 
soldiers proceeded to mob the fort shouting in their 
fury, *' Death to the Indians ! " 

Old Cornstalk heard the cries and realized what they 
meant. Although Ellinipsico was in no way privy to 
the attack by which the soldier had been killed, and the 
murder it was learned afterward was not committed by 
any of his tribe, there was no use in remonstrating. The 
ofificers were powerless to restrain the men — indeed they 
manifested little desire to interfere. The soldiers burst 
into the hut where the Indians had been confined. 
Cornstalk received them standing with wide open arms. 
He was pierced by seven bullets and instantly killed. 
Ellinipsico was also shot, as w'as Red Hawk, another 
famous chief who had been at Point Pleasant battle, and 
there was still a fourth Indian left, who was brutally 
tortured. 

Cornstalk had been a dreadful scourge on the border. 
He had ravaged and burned and murdered in his time, 
as few other Indians had ever done. In the French and 
Indian War, in Pontiac's War, and in Dunmore's War, 
he had taken the prominent part. All that, however, 
does not make it right to have detained him as a pris- 
oner when he came on a peaceable, helpful errand, nor to 
have allowed him to be shot for an action with which 
he had no possible connection. 



Part II 
VIRGINIA, TENNESSEE. THE CAROLINAS 

II 

The Pioneers of East Tennessee 



THE PIONEERS OF EAST TENNESSEE 

I. John Sevier and the Watauga Men 

UPON a pleasant spring morning in the year 1772, 
three horsemen dressed in hunting shirts, the 
most convenient garb ever devised for wood 
ranging, rode up to the cabin of James Robertson, the 
principal man of the little settlement of North Carolina 
pioneers in the valley of the Watauga, in what is now 
eastern Tennessee. All three of them were destined to 
play important parts in the building of the nation, and 
one of them especially was to tower far above his con- 
temporaries in character and achievement. 

That man was John Sevier, the organizer of the first 
free and independent democratic government upon the 
continent, the leader of a great commonwealth; an 
Indian fighter whom few have ever equalled; a soldier 
who could meet the finest troops on the continent in the 
field, and with inferior numbers win success from adverse 
circumstances; an administrator who could conduct the 
affairs of his fellow-men under circumstances of the 
greatest dif^culty; a statesman who takes rank not far 
behind those colossal men who watched the travail pains 
and facilitated the delivery of the new nation to be. Yet 
in the long roll of books telling of our national heroes 
I find singularly few which adequately treat of the char- 
acter and career of this remarkable man. And the one 

63 



64 Border Fights and Fighters 

series which professes to discuss his achievements with 
authority is interesting but highly traditional and little 
to be depended upon. 

Save perhaps in the great state of Tennessee he is 
more or less unknown or forgotten. Even his decisive 
connection with one of the most notable battles of our 
Revolution is obscured by the reflection cast by men of 
less fame. To the trio of great Tennesseans, Crockett, 
Houston, and Jackson, with whose career the world is 
familiar, must be added the name of Sevier. He may 
dispute pre-eminence fairly enough with all but a man of 
such colossal characteristics as Andrew Jackson. 

Crockett and Jackson came from the same people. 
Their origin w^as humble, their opportunities limited, and 
the success they achieved the more creditable. Hous- 
ton was a man of fairly good family of the middle class, 
Sevier, in the original sense of the term, when the word 
specified degree instead of character, was a gentleman; 
yes, a gentleman in modern sense, as well. His family, 
it is claimed, was an ancient one in France and his name 
was derived from the town of Xavier in Navarre at the 
foot of the French Pyrenees, where his family had an 
considerable estate and an old chateau. Possibly, as is 
sometimes urged, the name may have been originally de 
Xavier. 

Sevier came naturally by his love for the mountains, 
for his people had for centuries dwelt on the slopes of 
that forbidding range. It is alleged that there was a 
relationship between his family and that of the great 
Jesuit St. Francis Xavier, than whom no more heroic 
soul ever lived; but be that as it may, unlike their Spanish 
namesake the French Xaviers were Huguenots, who fled 
the country when Louis XIV perpetrated that atrocious 



The Pioneers of East Tennessee 6s 

blunder — nay, that ineffable crime — known as the Revo- 
cation of the Edict of Nantes. 

Abandoning their home the family went first to Lon- 
don and then migrated to America, seeking freedom in 
the land across the sea. The Old Dominion opened 
hospitable arms to people of their gentle blood, and as 
they had saved something from the wreck of their 
fortunes they presently became people of prominence 
among the planters of Virginia. There in 1745 young 
John Sevier, for so the family name became anglicized, 
was born. He was given the best education which it 
was possible to receive in Virginia, and of which, with 
his usual ambition, he made the most of in his life. 

He was twenty-seven years of age, therefore, when he 
rode up to Robertson's house on the Watauga. He had 
been married some years at that time and was the father 
of two promising sons. While a mere boy he had made 
a name for himself as a hunter, trader, and pioneer, and 
now held a commission as captain in the Virginia line, 
the same corps in which Washington was afterward a 
colonel. He had come across the Alleghenies to the 
settlement on the Watauga to build himself a new home 
in this recently opened country. 

I cannot doubt but that God led him across the hills, 
for charmed by what he saw, he determined to cast his 
lot with the people there, of whom he speedily became 
the idol and leader. His two companions, the elder a 
grizzly veteran, who also held the rank of captain in the 
Virginia line, were Evan and Isaac Shelby, father and 
son, two sterling patriots of Welsh descent. Evan 
Shelby rose to the rank of general in the Revolution 
and although he had a distinguished career, may be dis- 
missed from our consideration. Isaac Shelby, the son, 
5 



66 Border Fights and Fighters 

however, reappears again in this narrative, and was asso- 
ciated with Sevier in many heroic undertakings. 

When Daniel Boone, redoubtable hunter, explorer, 
adventurer, man of heroic mould, first toiled over the 
tree-crested summits of the Alleghenies and surveyed the 
vast expanse of mountain and valley and river stretch- 
ing inimitably before him toward the setting sun, country 
which no white man had ever trod, a doubtful legend 
says that he gave vent to his feelings in an outburst of 
enthusiasm to his comrades, in these words : " I am 
richer than the man in Scripture, who owned cattle on a 
thousand hills. I own the wild beasts in a thousand 
valleys ! " Whether he said it or no, he probably 
thought it. 

It is characteristic of the genius of the white race, 
that to see a place, to set foot upon it, was sufficient to 
establish a claim to any domain, any aboriginal inhabi- 
tants to the contrary, notwithstanding. The great waste 
of territory between the Ohio and the Tennessee, which 
the English claimed had been ceded to the king in the 
famous treaty of Fort Stanwix by the Iroquois, — who 
had no more right nor title to it than Germany has to 
France, for instance, — was the hunting ground, the place 
of resort, of great tribes of the most enlightened and 
warlike savages south of the Six Nations, upon the 
continent. 

De Soto had visited it in 1540, and an Irish trader, 
named Dougherty, had settled within its confines within 
the latter part of the seventeenth century, but no one 
had ever presumed to attempt to colonize, or hold it, 
not even the Cherokees, whose country lay adjacent to 
the beautiful valley of the Watauga. 



The Pioneers of East Tennessee 67 



II. "The Rear Guard of the Revolution" 

The first actual settlement was made in 1769-70 by 
Robertson and a party of North Carolinians, who climbed 
the mountains and built their huts in the fertile valley 
on the other side. There in a well-watered plateau, some 
two thousand feet above the level of the sea, in a coun- 
try which was remarkable for the fertility of its soil and 
the salubrity of its climate, they purchased land from the 
Cherokees, erected cabins, and endeavored to make the 
place a home. Thither Sevier resorted. Possessed of 
ample means, indeed, being a man of wealth for the 
time and place, his house became the resort of the hardy 
settlers, whom he received with true Virginia hospitality. 

A man of urbane and charming disposition, gay and 
debonair, yet of inflexible resolution and matchless daring, 
he became the idol of the settlers. Thenceforward for 
forty-three years he led them in all their enterprises and 
undertakings; he conducted thirty-four battles against 
the Indians and met no defeat; he participated as the ani- 
mating spirit in one great expedition against the British, 
with overwhelming success. In 1772, he and his asso- 
ciates in the trans-mountain settlements, organized the 
first free and independent government on this continent, 
administering the laws of their agreement and dealing 
justice in the vast region across the Alleghenies. 

During the Revolutionary War many times he broke 
up the plans of the British for launching the savages 
upon the borders and thus overwhelming the American 
colonists; plans which, had they succeeded, might have 
been as fatal to American hopes of independence as 
would have been the success of Burgoyne's expedition. 



68 Border Fights and Fighters 

He and his men — Gilmore felicitously calls them " The 
Rear Guard of the Revolution " — kept the Indians in 
check, dauntlessly interposing their scanty numbers be- 
tween the fierce warriors and the unprotected settlements 
on the hither side of the Alleghenies, performing service 
incalculable thereby. The borders were free, the patri- 
ots could leave their families without fear of savage foray 
because they were watched over by Sevier and his men. 
It was given to him at one of the turning points of 
the Revolution to inspire, and in large measure to strike 
the blow which determined that the south land should 
be free. 

III. The State of Franklin and its Governor 

After the Revolution, under Sevier's leadership, North 
Carolina having cast them off, the mountaineers organ- 
ized within the limits of the present commonwealth of 
Tennessee, the state of Franklin,* named for the wise 
old philosopher, and Sevier was its first governor. 

He administered its financial affairs with a currency of 
coon skins ! When North Carolina withdrew the act of 
cession, by which she had turned the territory over to 
Congress and sought to assume her state rights again, 
Sevier conducted himself in the trying crisis with discre- 
tion and firmness, and had it not been for the machina- 
tions of some bitter enemies — this is the penalty of great- 
ness, always to make enemies — he might have succeeded 
in preserving the integrity of the state he had founded. 

It is interesting to note that North Carolina, which 
was quick to follow the lead of her southern sisters in 

* Commonly and erroneously called the state of Frankland, i.e., land of 
the Franks or Freemen ! 



The Pioneers of East Tennessee 69 

seceding from the Union in 1861, pointed out at this 
ancient date that if different communities were permit- 
ted to withdraw from a mother state and organize states 
of their own, at their own voHtion, the result would be 
the disintegration of the Republic. North Carolina was 
right in this instance, and Sevier was wrong in attempt- 
ing to maintain his commonwealth. 

He was treacherously betrayed, captured, and after- 
ward tried at Morgantown, North Carolina, for high 
treason. Fifteen hundred men of the trans-Allegheny 
region, assembled to take him back, and a war between 
the sections was imminent. Aided by some of his old 
comrades in arms he made a romantic escape from the 
custody of the officers; whereupon the people of the 
Watauga district, having submitted to the inevitable, 
promptly elected him to the North Carolina legislature, 
in which, after some feeble protests, he took his seat. 

When the state ratified the constitution and became 
thereby a member of the Federal Union, one congress- 
man was apportioned to the district across the x-Mle- 
ghenies. Sevier was unanimously elected and was the 
first man to sit in Congress from that great region be- 
yond the mountains. 

He was made general of the militia when Tennessee 
was a territory, and when she became a state he was 
chosen governor without opposition. For three succes- 
sive terms he was elected, and then being ineligible con- 
stitutionally, for a period of two years, he was thereafter 
elected for three more successive terms, after which he 
was sent back to Congress and thrice re-elected ! 

He died in harness and in the field, in 18 15, in a tent 
on a surveying expedition for the government, sur- 
rounded as he had lived, by his soldiers. 



70 Border Fights and Fighters 

He lost his first wife in 1774 and was living at his 
home on the Nolichucky, from which, by the way, he 
was sometimes called in border parlance, " Nolichucky 
Jack," or " Chucky Jack," in 1775, when the Revolu- 
tionary War broke out. One of the first of the British 
attempts was to assemble the savages on the Watauga 
frontier, especially in the southern territory, sweep in- 
land and ravage the settlements, while Sir Peter Parker 
and his fleet attempted to capture Charleston, thus plac- 
ing the colonists between two fires and making their 
downfall apparently certain. 

Moultrie and his little handful beat off Parker, and 
Sevier and a still smaller handful broke up the plan in 
the west by routing the Indians in a brilliant campaign 
terminating in the siege at Fort Lee, a rude timber en- 
closure which had been erected on the banks of the 
Watauga. The fort was closely beleaguered by the sav- 
ages for some forty days without a casualty among the 
defenders, the Indians losing so severely in their attacks 
that old Oconostota. their head war chief, the inveterate 
enemy of the Americans so long as he lived, finally with- 
drew his force in dismay and abandoned the campaign. 

It was at this siege that there occurred a romantic 
episode in the life of the young woman who became the 
second wife of Sevier. In defiance of warnings some of 
the people of the fort, irked by the confinement, had 
gone beyond the limits of the walls. A party of savages 
suddenly appeared and attempted their capture. The 
people fled to gain the stockade, which was crowded 
with women and children. 

It would have risked everything to have left the gate 
open, indeed there was no time for it. Sevier sent his 
men to the walls to cover the escaping fugitives by a 



The Pioneers of East Tennessee 71 

smart rifle fire, and drive back the Indians till the set- 
tlers conld be taken in. One young girl, Katharine 
Sherrill, in her terror actually leaped to the top of the 
palisade and fell over the wall into the arms of the com- 
mander. She leaped into his heart at the same time and 
they were soon married. Bonny Kate is reported to 
have said, 

" I would take a leap like that every day to fall into 
the arms of a man like my gallant husband." 

The handsomest man in Tennessee, they called him, 
and the bravest and best; tall, just under six feet, blue- 
eyed, sunny-haired, graceful, he was a man to win any 
woman's heart, and his qualities were equally attractive 
to men. He was a glutton for work, a giant for endur- 
ance, a very paladin of courage. 

After twenty-eight days of marching and fighting in the 
King's Mountain expedition, with scarcely any rest he set 
out for another campaign in the wilds of the mountains 
against the restless Cherokees. Another inveterate ene- 
my of the white settlers was the chief of the Chicka- 
maugas, named Dragging Canoe. When the British at- 
tempted a second time to combine the savages and hurl 
them upon the backs of the colonists, it was Sevier's 
brilliant expedition in the heart of the Indian country 
which broke the spirit of the Cherokees, '' Sons of Fire," 
and their allies. They smouldered thereafter and until 
the state of Franklin was organized gave but little 
trouble. 

Such was the personal courage of Sevier that in this 
expedition he slew Dragging Canoe with his own hand, 
in a terrific hand-to-hand conflict. In thirty-four en- 
counters with the Indians he was invariably successful. 

It is difficult to describe any of these actions. They 



72 Border Fights and Fighters 

did not rise to the dignity of pitched battles, but gener- 
ally consisted of a swift, noiseless approach, a surprise, 
a wild desperate charge upon the Indians, driving them 
into headlong rout, a destruction of their villages and 
crops and then a quick withdrawal to the settlements. 
Again and again were these tactics pursued. 

Sevier had many qualities of Francis Marion, another 
great American of French descent, who fought in the 
Revolution. Instead of the slow, stealthy concealed ad- 
vance, the hidden ambush, which the Indians made use 
of, Sevier adopted other tactics and depended upon 
audacity and speed. The Napoleonic idea of the value 
of a small mobile concentrated body hurled swiftly upon 
a slow-moving scattered if superior force, was exempli- 
fied in his attempts before the Corsican was born. It 
was exemplified nowhere so strikingly as in that most 
remarkable battle of King's Mountain, which, for origi- 
nality of conception, boldness of execution, success in 
completion, stands amojig the most picturesque battles 
of the world; and with the story of that battle in which 
he won so many of his laurels, we will leave the old hero. 

IV. The Assembling of the Mountaineers 

One of the most distinguished ofificers of the king in 
America during the Revolution was Major Patrick Fer- 
guson of the Seventy-first Foot, the Royal Americans. 
He was a brother of Adam Ferguson, the celebrated 
Scottish philosopher, and in his own way quite as gifted. 
To a reputation for bravery earned in Europe, he had 
added new laurels, notably at the Brandywine, receiving 
there a wound which permanently deprived him of the 
full use of an arm thereafter, and at the battle of Camden, 



The Pioneers of East Tennessee 73 

where the Seventy-first under his leadership, displayed 
such splendid courage and where he was again wounded. 

He was a man of an ingenious turn of mind and had 
invented a breech-loading rifle, in the use of which he 
became very expert. Upon one occasion it is claimed 
that he had a reconnoitring party of Americans headed 
by a general officer within range of his rifle, and that 
from motives of humanity he refrained from killing the 
unsuspecting officer, which he could easily have done. 
He afterward learned that the man he had spared was 
George Washington. 

For a time, after the overwhelming and disgraceful 
defeat of Gates at Camden, South Carolina, August i6, 
1780, Cornwallis virtually had the whole south at his 
mercy. He moved slowly northward with the main 
body of his army, sending out columns on either flank, 
and in all directions in fact, endeavoring to occupy and 
pacify the country he fondly considered permanently 
subdued. 

To Ferguson was given command of the various oper- 
ations upon the left of the main advance. To him were 
assigned one hundred and twenty of his own regular 
regiment, and he was given power to embody and take 
command of all the Tory volunteers he could win to his 
following. 

The Carolinas, be it remembered, with the exception 
of New Jersey — and New York in part — were the only 
states which were entirely swept from border to border 
by the besom of war. There was scarcely a nook or a 
corner in either one in which the rifle shot was not heard, 
the torch was not lighted, in which the passions of Hell 
were not let loose. The rancorous hatreds of civil strife 
in no section were more in evidence than in these two 



74 Border Fights and Fighters 

brave little southern colonies. Even the animosities en- 
gendered in central New York between the Whigs and 
Tories were not so persistent, so rigorous, so bitter, or 
so desolating in their effects. 

Cornwallis soon awoke from his dream; for, while 
partisan bands sprang up on either side and attacked each 
other without mercy, success generally inclined to the 
Americans. The British found they could only hold the 
ground occupied by their armies. In their exasperation, 
they and the Tories resorted to ferocious cruelties, which 
were promptly met by reprisals in kind. Many of Corn- 
wallis' parties and bodies of Tories were cut off without 
mercy. In fact, except under Cruger, Tarleton, and 
Ferguson, the British were defeated again and again 
by Sumter, Marion, Pickens, Davie, McDowell, and 
Williams. 

Ferguson had experienced some reverses, but on the 
whole had been very successful. He succeeded in em- 
bodying some two thousand Tories, whom he organized 
into regiments, which he trained and drilled in British 
tactics with energy and success. 

He had been brought in contact with a few of the 
trans- Allegheny men, the first settlers of Virginia west, 
of the mountains and the pioneers of Tennessee; the 
" Back Water Men," he called them on several occa- 
sions and knew their quality, especially from one bloody 
skirmish at Musgrove's Mills. Seeking to keep them 
quiet he released a prisoner and sent him across the range 
to inform the people there that if they did not " desist 
from their opposition to British arms, he would march 
his army across the mountains, hang the leaders, and lay 
the country waste with fire and sword." 

In Ferguson's army, which was then about sixty miles 



The Pioneers of East Tennessee 75 

from the Watauga, where was the principal settlement 
in East Tennessee, were several Tories, who had been 
expelled from the mountain region and who were thor- 
oughly conversant with the passes through the moun- 
tains. It was possible for him to have made the attempt, 
although it is extremely doubtful that he ever had the 
slightest idea of doing so; for, as he well knew, his 
chances of success would have been of the very smallest. 
It is probable that the threat was merely intended to 
frighten the mountaineers into keeping quiet. They 
were not the kind to be frightened by idle threats, and 
Ferguson was to learn that it was a dangerous thing to 
threaten to do the impossible, or at least he would have 
learned it if the mountaineers had not killed him trying 
to teach him the lesson. 

" Never was threat so impotent, and yet so powerful." 
Ferguson's messenger went first to Shelby, who acted 
with instant promptitude. Sixty miles to the south was 
the residence of Sevier on the NoHchucky. Throwing 
himself upon his horse, Shelby tore down the valley to 
apprize his friend and colleague of the news and to con- 
cert as to the best course of action. 

The " tall Watauga boys," as they were called, were 
having a jollification at the time at Sevier's; oxen were 
being roasted for a barbecue, horse-racing was going on, 
and rustic sports were being enjoyed. Sevier was keep- 
ing open house to all comers. One authority says that 
the occasion was the marriage of the great pioneer to 
the girl of the stockade episode, but other investigators 
claim that the marriage occurred in the stockade during 
the siege, or shortly after, and it is probable that this 
was a rustic gathering to celebrate the garnering of the 
harvest. But from whatever cause, a great many of the 



76 Border Fights and Fighters 

inhabitants, men, women, and children, were assembled 
there having a good time, when Shelby dashed up on 
his sweat-lathered horse and stopped the merriment in- 
stantly by the sight of his grim, anxious, and troubled 
face. 

The two leaders retired at once for consultation, while 
the people suspended their sports and with deepening 
anxiety awaited the results of the deliberation. What 
was to be done? Should they bid defiance to Ferguson, 
occupy the mountain passes, and await attack there? 
This was believed to be Shelby's idea. Sevier was more 
audacious. They should not wait to be attacked, they 
should assemble the men, cross the range and fall upon 
the unsuspecting partisan before he realized that they 
had more than received his message. His bold counsels 
prevailed. The news was immediately circulated, and 
the men and women assembled for the merrymaking 
received the decision with shouts of approval. A ren- 
dezvous was appointed at Sycamore Shoals on the Wa- 
tauga, on the 25th of September. 

Taking a fresh horse Shelby rode north to enlist for 
the enterprise Campbell and his Virginians, settled about 
the head waters of the Holston. Sevier sent messengers 
to McDowell, who, with a small band of North Carolin- 
ians, had been chased over the mountains by Ferguson. 
Sevier was to assemble the Watauga men as well. 

Campbell at first refused to participate in the expedi- 
tion, but upon being further approached by argument 
and appeal, finally consented. Expresses were de- 
spatched over the mountains and one of the most cele- 
brated partisans of North Carolina, Colonel Benjamin 
Cleaveland, promised to join the assemblage with such 
men as he could secure. On the 25th of September, 



The Pioneers of East Tennessee 77 

Campbell, Shelby, and Sevier, reached the rendezvous 
at the appointed time. 

The situation was peculiar. On one side of the little 
settlement were hordes of savages who had only been 
kept in check by severe campaigning and constant watch- 
fulness, and who wanted but an opportunity to fall upon 
the settlements. On the other side, with the mountains 
between, were over two thousand well-trained British 
troops, under a veteran officer. Yet so eager were the 
men to go on the expedition that they resorted to a draft 
to see who should stay behind to protect the women 
and children from the red peril so dangerously near. 

Four hundred and eighty of the Watauga men were 
selected and divided into two regiments, commanded 
by Sevier and Shelby. In Sevier's regiment were no less 
than six persons who bore his name, including his two 
sons. Two of his brothers were captains. The Wa- 
tauga boys were joined by one hundred and sixty of 
McDowell's men and two hundred Back Water Presby- 
terians under stout old William Campbell, presently re- 
enforced by two hundred more of the same sort under 
Arthur Campbell, his brother. 

The assemblage, though small, was remarkable for its 
quality; tall, sinewy, powerful, brave, dead shots, accus- 
tomed to the fatigues and hardships of frontier life, it 
would be hard to match this body of borderers on the 
continent. The little army was without baggage, with- 
out equipment, without provisions, without everything 
but arms. Most of the men had no horses, although 
all were provided with the Deckhard rifle, a piece re- 
markable in that day for the precision of its shot and 
the length of its range. 

Sevier and Shelby had long since exhausted their 



78 Border Fights and Fighters 

private resources, and they were hard put to know where 
to find money to buy horses and equipments for those 
who were without them, for they had determined that 
the expedition should consist only of mounted riflemen. 
There was one officer of North Carolina, however, on 
their side of the mountains, who had money. This was 
John Adair, the entry taker, whose business it was to 
receive the payments of the settlers for the land which 
they took up. 

Sevier and Shelby went to him and asked him for the 
money in his hands, some twelve thousand dollars, 
pledging their personal honor and credit that thereafter 
he should be paid back every farthing — a pledge they 
scrupulously redeemed. Adair rose to the measure of 
the situation with true patriotism, as may be seen by 
his splendid answer to the demand. 

" Colonel Sevier," he said, " I have no right to make 
any such disposition of this money; it belongs to the 
impoverished treasury of North Carolina. But, if the 
country is overrun by the British, liberty is gone. Let 
the money go too. Take it. If by its use the enemy 
is driven from the country, I can trust that country to 
justify and vindicate my conduct. Take it ! " 

With this money the men were promptly provided 
with horses and powder. Even the women entered into 
the spirit of the occasion, and it is related that some of 
the powder which was afterward used with such deadly 
efifect was made by their assistance, for they burned the 
charcoal on the family hearthstones. 



The Pioneers of East Tennessee 79 



V. The Dash to Catch Ferguson 

Early on the morning of the 26th of September was 
the hour appointed for the march. Old Parson Doak, 
stern Presbyterian, black-gowned, stood in the midst of 
the one thousand rugged riflemen in their hunting shirts, 
who doffed their coon-skin caps, or buck-tail hats, and 
ringed themselves about him, leaning upon their arms, 
while he invoked the Divine blessing upon the expedi- 
tion, bidding them to go forth and strike with the sword 
of the Lord and of Gideon. After this impressive cere- 
mony, the men, speeded by the cheers of those unwill- 
ingly left behind, and followed by the prayers of the 
women, immediately took up the march. With them, 
rifle in hand, went another clergyman, the Reverend 
Stephen Foster. 

Being well mounted, they made great progress. Un- 
encumbered by baggage train of any sort, they were able 
to take short cuts and traverse apparently impracticable 
paths over the range, which they found covered with 
deep snow. There was no commissariat, a few beeves 
were driven on the march and slaughtered for the first 
day's rations, but the men depended upon what they 
could pick up on the way, or shoot with the rifle, to 
eke out the supply of parched corn which every man 
carried for himself. It is not too much to say that the 
west was won by parched corn and the powder horn. 

They marched with great swiftness for several days, 
being joined at the foot of the mountains by Cleaveland, 
a redoubtable, if merciless and ferocious fighter, with 
three hundred and fifty men from Wilkes and Surrey 
Counties, on the 30th of September. On Monday, the 



8o Border Fights and Fighters 

1st of October, they marched eighteen miles, but were 
stopped by the rain. On the 2d they determined to 
select one of the various colonels who should command 
the expedition, pending the arrival of an officer of rank. 

Choice fell upon William Campbell of Virginia, who 
had the largest regiment. McDowell of North Carolina, 
who was senior, had the smallest regiment, and was not 
thought sufficiently vigorous for such an undertaking. 
He relieved the dilemma regarding him, by volunteering 
to ride express to General Gates and ask him to send 
an officer of merit to take charge. Campbell hesitated 
to assume the command, and earnestly urged Sevier, 
Shelby, or other officers to take it, but they insisted that 
he should undertake the duty which they had devolved 
upon him, and at last he consented. 

On the 3rd of October, while still in the gap at South 
Mountain, before the march was taken up, Cleaveland, 
who seems to have been the orator of the assemblage, 
addressed the men in the followins^ terms : 



't> 



" Now, my brave fellows, I have come to tell you the 
news. The enemy is at hand, and we must up and at 
them. Now is the time for every man of you to do his 
country a priceless service — such as shall lead your chil- 
dren to exult in the fact that their fathers were the con- 
querors of Ferguson. When the pinch comes I shall be 
with you. But if any of you shrink from sharing the 
battle and glory, you can now have the opportunity of 
backing out and leaving, and you shall have a few min- 
utes for considering the matter." 

Other colonels in brief, terse words seconded old 
Cleaveland, and then requested those who desired to 
retire from the proposed expedition to step three paces 



The Pioneers of East Tennessee 8i 

to the rear. No one did so, of course. Ferguson was 
believed to be in the vicinity of Gilbert Town. They 
proceeded cautiously, therefore, to that point, and the 
next day learned that he had retreated and that he was 
thought to have gone southward to Ninety Six. 

In the vicinity of Beattie's Ford on the Catawba, 
thirty miles away, were a body of Sumter's men under 
Colonels Hill, who was too badly wounded to take part 
in the campaign, and Lacey, and a small party of South 
Carolinians under Williams, altogether about four hun- 
dred in number. Williams had been appointed to com- 
mand the militia, and Sumter had disputed his right. 
Pending the settlement of the question, Sumter had 
withdrawn from his troops, otherwise he would have ex- 
ercised chief command in the battle that was to follow. 
W^illiams, however, had remained in the neighborhood; 
although Sumter's troops had refused to acknowledge 
him, he had gathered a small body of his own. 

When this assemblage heard these mountain men had 
come for the purpose of taking Ferguson, Colonel Lacey 
made an all-night ride through the wilderness to Camp- 
bell's camp, on the Green River, which he reached an 
hour or so before daybreak, offering to co-operate with 
them and informing the mountaineers that Ferguson had 
not gone to Ninety Six, but was marching toward King's 
Mountain. They believed at first that Lacey was a Tory 
spy, but he finally persuaded them of his integrity, and 
they agreed to meet his party at the Cowpens, south 
of the Broad, soon to be the scene of another famous 
victor\\ the next evening, the 6th of October. Selecting 
some seven hundred of the best men, the mountaineers 
at once set out, leaving the rest to follow as fast as 
possible. 
6 



82 Border Fights and Fighters 

With scarcely an hour's sleep, Lacey mounted his 
horse and returned to his men, reaching them about ten 
o'clock in the morning, having ridden sixty miles in 
fourteen hours. On the appointed evening the whole 
party, now amounting to some eleven hundred men, 
rendezvoused at the Cowpens. The indomitable Lacey 
had succeeded in getting his men there at the hour 
agreed upon. Before they took up their march again 
they carefully selected, by a second weeding out, nine 
hundred and ten of the most efficient with the freshest 
horses, with whom they determined to push on to meet 
Ferguson.* Fifty foot soldiers resolved to keep up with 
the horsemen if possible. 

Sure intelligence had been received that Ferguson had 
halted on King's Mountain. This is a low spur of the 
Alleghenies, sixteen miles long, running northeast and 
southwest. Ferguson was encamped on the southern 
end of it in York County, South Carolina, a mile and a 
half from the border. He had sent despatches to Corn- 
wallis, whom he had been endeavoring to join, urging 
him to send Tarleton to escort him over the thirty miles 
of rough broken country between his army and Char- 
lotte, his lordship's head-quarters, for he had been ap- 
prised by two deserters of the storm that was gathering 
on his heels. 

* This number was made up, according to McCrady, as follows : Camp- 
bell, 200; Sevier, 120; Shelby, 120; Cleaveland, 110; McDowell, a 
brother of the officer who had gone to seek Gates, 90 ; and Winston, a 
subordinate to Cleaveland, 60 ; making seven hundred chosen at Green 
River. Additional troops were selected at the Cowpens, as follows : Lacey, 
100; Williams, 60, and Graham and Hambright, 50, making 210: total, 910. 
200 of these were Virginians, 510 were from North and 200 from South 
Carolina. The foot soldiers mentioned did not arrive until the close of the 
action, so they are not counted. The rest were to follow as fast as they 
could. 



The Pioneers of East Tennessee 83 

Not that he had any fear of being able to defend his 
present position, for he considered his force entirely ad- 
equate to hold it forever, although not sufficiently strong 
to take the offensive. The affair at Musgrove's Mills 
had given his troops, if not himself, a healthy respect for 
the mountaineers. Unfortunately for him, some of his 
messengers were captured, and others were forced by the 
dangers of the way to take such circuitous routes that 
they did not reach Cornwallis until the battle was over. 

Ferguson had chosen the position from the point of 
view of the European soldier, with much skill. Profes- 
sional soldiers have called it admirable for defence. He 
is alleged to have said, in various profane ways, that he 
could hold his post against any force that might be 
brought against him. 

A great deal of unscientific criticism has been heaped 
upon him for this choice of position. To be sure he 
did not hold it against an inferior force, which seems to 
bear out the censures; but that force was unique in com- 
position and its attack was an unusual one, which no 
theoretical experience could have led Ferguson to ex- 
pect. He could probably have held the place success- 
fully against regular soldiers without difficulty. But the 
men who were after him were not regular troops. They 
knew nothing of the school of the soldier and cared less; 
their character was peculiar and their tactics in accord- 
ance. 

VI. King's Mountain ; Launching the Thunderbolt 

About nine o'clock on the night of the 6th, the army 
set forth from the Cowpens for King's Mountain, some 
thirty-three miles away. It was pitch dark and to add 



84 Border Fights and Fighters 

to their difficulties and discomforts a chill rain came 
driving upon them for a large part of the night. To 
keep their muskets dry the men were forced to take ofT 
their blankets and shirts and wrap them around the gun- 
locks. Chilled to the bone they urged their jaded steeds 
through the clogging mud and cold driving rain of the 
furious storm during the long night. 

When day broke they reached the Catawba at Chero- 
kee Ford, crossed it, still in the pelting rain, and plodded 
on. Some chroniclers aver, that, oppressed by their 
long, hard march, the slow progress they had made, the 
worn-out condition of the men, some of the officers sug- 
gested that they give over the attempt and return. 
Shelby, marching in the van, curtly replied, 

" I will not stop until night if I follow Ferguson into 
Cornwallis' lines ! " 

So they pushed resolutely on. It continued to rain 
harder than ever during the morning until noon, when 
the storm broke and the sun came out with a fine breeze, 
to the great refreshment of the army. Spies and scouts 
sent on ahead confirmed the truth of their impression 
that Ferguson was on King's Mountain. At one Tory 
farm-house, from which they could get no information, 
one of the women came out secretly and ran across the 
fields until she intercepted the American advance. 

" How many men have you? " she cried. 

" Enough to whip Ferguson if we can find him," was 
the reply. 

" You will find him on that mountain yonder," she 
said, pointing to the hill three miles away. 

It was two o'clock when the army reached the vicinity 
of the mountain after their eighteen-hour struggle in the 
dreadful storm. Hard on their heels followed the de- 



The Pioneers of East Tennessee 85 

voted fifty foot, who had made an unparalleled 
march. 

The portion of King's Mountain upon which the bat- 
tle occurred is an isolated hill some six hundred yards 
long, about one hundred feet high, and varying in width 
from sixty to one hundred and twenty yards across. It 
is a long stone-crested ridge, the sides covered with trees, 
the top bare and desolate. The rocks around the edge 
of the crest formed a natural breastwork. The narrowest 
part of the hill was toward the south. At this narrow 
end of the ridge a man standing could be seen from the 
foot of either slope. Ferguson's camp was pitched near 
the northern end, and except for the natural cover 
afforded by the rocks and bowlders, had no other pro- 
tection. The baggage-wagons were parked along the 
northeastern, the most exposed edge, near the widest 
part. 

Ferguson had with him one hundred and twenty of 
the Seventy-first regulars, and some eight hundred Tory 
militia, about equally divided betw^een the two Carolinas. 
He had had this militia under his command for some time 
and had drilled and exercised them with unfailing zeal 
and success until he rated them equal to British regular 
soldiery. His own troops, of course, were provided 
with bayonets, and he caused the hunting knives of the 
Tories so to be arranged that they could be fitted into 
the muzzles of the guns; thus the militia contingent was 
supplied with a formidable weapon for close quarters. 
His main reliance was upon the bayonet, therefore. 
There were no bayonets of any sort in the American 
army, and it was to be rifle bullet against cold steel. 

The second in command on the mountain was Cap- 
tain de Peyster of New York, a brave, efficient officer. 
It is interesting to note that, with the exception of Fer- 



86 Border Fights and Fighters 

guson himself, there were probably no men of British 
birth in either of the two contending armies. 

Riding as near the hill as they dared without being 
discovered, the men dismounted, with the exception of 
a few of the ranking officers, and were formed up in four 







O FERCUSON'S HCAOQUARTtR». 

•f Place wMcne FcacusoN WA»Kikktb. 

H- PCACe WMCRC HORSCb WCKt LCFT. 



Plan of Battle of King's Mountain. 

divisions; Campbell taking the command of the right 
centre division; Shelby the left centre; Sevier, with 
McDowell's and some of Winston's men under him, led 
the right wing; while Cleaveland with Williams, Lacey, 
and the others took charge of the left wing. 

A party of horse under Major Winston who knew the 



The Pioneers of East Tennessee 87 

field of battle, were ordered to make a long detour and 
approach the mountain from the northern end. Camp- 
bell and Shelby Vv'ere to attack the right and left sides 
of the mountain at the narrow lower end, Sevier and 
Cleaveland were to defile past them and range along the 
east and west sides respectively, while Winston closed 
the remaining gap. The attack was delivered about 
three o'clock. The rallying word was " Buford," the 
name of the commander whom Tarleton had treacher- 
ously killed in the massacre at Waxhaws. 

It was not until fifteen minutes before the battle be- 
gan that Ferguson became aware of the threatened dan- 
ger. Instantly his men were called to arms. Shelby 
and Campbell, having the shortest distance to go, were 
the first to engage the enemy. The honor of beginning 
the battle must be given to Campbell. The stout old 
Presbyterian, stripped to his shirt sleeves, led the Vir- 
ginians up the hill, waving an old claymore, a weapon 
of his Scottish ancestors, shouting, 

" Here they are, my brave boys ! Shout like Hell and 
fight like devils ! " 

Yelling and firing rapidly they swarmed up the hill. 
When de Peyster heard these deafening yells, which he 
remembered from the disastrous fight at Musgrove's 
Mills, he turned to Ferguson saying, 

"These things are ominous; these are the d d 

yelling boys ! " 

The Englishman was not daunted by the yelling, how- 
ever. Throwing his regulars upon them in a fierce bay- 
onet charge, Ferguson drove them down the slope. 
Meanwhile Shelby had sustained a severe fire while get- 
ting into position and had hard work restraining the fire 
of his men; at last yelling, 



88 Border Fights and Fighters 

" Give them Indian play, boys! " he rode up the other 
slope at their head. 

A similar bayonet charge by de Peyster and the Tories 
repulsed their attack. The men gave back so reluc- 
tantly, however, that several of them were bayoneted as 
they retreated. Flushed with victory for the moment, 
Ferguson's enthusiasm was rudely dispelled by the 
crackling of muskets on the eastern side of the moun- 
tain. 

Yelling like fiends, Sevier's men breasted the slope 
of the hill. Indeed, it is said that the so-called " rebel 
yell," which was heard on so many battle-fields in the 
next century, had its origin in this body of mountaineers 
led by Sevier. Galloping to the threatened point, Fer- 
guson threw some of his men upon the Watauga boys. 
The ground here w^as more broken, and the same rocks 
which served for the British ramparts played a like pur- 
pose for the Americans. Sevier could not be driven 
away. He established himself on the crest of the hill 
behind the rocks, pouring in a deadly fire. 

At the same instant Colonel Cleaveland came into 
action. He was a great speech-maker, this Cleaveland, 
and as his soldiers raced along the base of the hill to 
get to the position from which they were to make the 
ascent, he is said to have made the following speech in 
broken sentences: 

" My brave fellows, we have beaten the Tories, and 
we can beat them again. . . . They are all cowards. 
If they had the spirit of men, they would join us in 
supporting the independence of the country. . . . 
When you are engaged, do not wait for the word of 
command. I will show you by my example how to 
fight. I can undertake no more. . . . Every man 







o 

o 



13 

(U 

> 



T3 

o 

c 
o 



3 

bJ3 



LX4 



The Pioneers of East Tennessee 89 

must act on his own judgment. Fire as fast as you can, 
and stand your ground as long as you can. . , . 
When you can do no better, get behind trees, or retreat; 
but I beg you not to run off." Then pointing to the 
crest of the hill from which a deadly fire was plunging, 
he cried, " Yonder is your enemy, and the enemy of 
mankind ! " 

At the same instant Colonel Hambright with his brave 
Germans, and Majors Winston and Chronicle of the Car- 
olinians, closed the gap. Williams, who had sulked be- 
cause he had not been recognized or consulted by the 
other officers, could stand it no longer. 

" Come up, boys ! " he shouted, " the old wagoner 
never yet backed out ! " and he rushed into action to the 
right of Cleaveland. 

The mountain was now completely encircled. Sevier 
had gained the summit and was clinging to it with grim 
tenacity. As Ferguson withdrew his troops from the 
southern end, Campbell and Shelby immediately turned 
and followed them up the hill. Both sides fought well. 
Three times did the British and Tories throw themselves 
upon the approaching Americans. Three times did the 
deadly bayonet do its work, but they could not drive 
the men from the fight further than they could continue 
the charge. They always came back. Campbell had 
two horses shot under him. Shelby's face had been 
burned by powder, so close had been the action. 

The mountain was ringed with fire and covered with 
smoke. The roar of the rifles and muskets could be 
heard for miles. Ferguson showed himself a very pala- 
din of courage. Mounted on a white horse he rode fran- 
tically up and down the plateau, rallying his men, launch- 
ing charge after charge upon whatever part of the line 



90 Border Fights and Fighters 

ventured to expose itself on the crest. The bulk of 
these charges fell upon the regiments of Shelby and 
Campbell, but the beleaguered force struck out desper- 
ately on every hand. Finally a last charge furiously 
hurled upon the Virginians, coupled with shouts that 
Tarleton was at hand, put the regiment to flight. Im- 
ploring, protesting, swearing, the brave commander es- 
sayed to stop the retreat of his men, but it was not 
until they had been driven some distance from the foot 
of the hill that he could get them in order again to lead 
them back. 

Meanwhile Sevier led his men from the crest of the hill 
and dashed at the British in the open. At the same in- 
stant a simultaneous advance all along the lines drove 
the British back in every direction. The Virginians 
rallied and came fiercely up again. The British fell in 
scores. 

Some one raised a white flag. Ferguson instantly 
ordered it down, swearing that he would " never surren- 
der to such a d d set of banditti ! " Blowing the 

silver whistle which had rung over the field and by which 
he had given his commands, he rallied his forces for an- 
other final charge. De Peyster led it with the remnant 
of the regulars, but before they came in contact with the 
mountaineers, their deadly discharge reduced his line to 
twelve people. Another flag was raised and this time 
Ferguson cut it down. 

But the day was lost. De Peyster realized it and 
advised surrender. Ferguson, however, would not see 
the inevitable and disdained to yield. He put himself 
at the head of his men for another charge and was shot 
by a dozen bullets and instantly killed. The British were 
now crowded in a huddled mass near the northeast end, 



The Pioneers of East Tennessee 91 

surrounded on all sides by the mountaineers. To resist 
longer was to be slaughtered like sheep in a pen. 

De Peyster raised the flag a third time. Some of the 
mountaineers, so ignorant of the customs of war that 
they did not realize the meaning of the signal, and mad- 
dened by the fighting, continued their fire, which was 
returned by some of the desperate British soldiers and 
Colonel Williams was instantly killed. The Americans 
yelling " Give them Buford's play," then poured a volley 
in on the unresisting Tories, most of whom had practi- 
cally surrendered. 

There was a scene of wild and terrible confusion on 
the mountain top. De Peyster wildly protested against 
the butchery of surrendered men. Sevier, Shelby, and 
Campbell did their best to restrain their reckless, undis- 
ciplined soldiers, who continued to fire upon the huddled 
mass of British crying "Quarter! Quarter!" and the 
battle bade fair to degenerate into a massacre. Finally 
the mountaineers were stopped, and at Shelby's words, 

'* D n you, if you want quarter, throw down your 

arms ! " the British threw down their guns and were 
marched away from them. 

VII. After the Battle 

The battle was over at four o'clock in the afternoon. 
It had lasted scarcely an hour. In the confusion some 
of the Tories, who wore no uniform, escaped, but the 
results of the battle were some three hundred killed, or 
so severely wounded that they had to be left on the field, 
and six hundred captured. On the American side the 
casualties were twenty-eight killed, and sixty-two wound- 
ed, the disparity being due in part to the fact that the 



92 Border Fights and Fighters 

British firing down the hill overshot their opponents, in 
accordance with a natural tendency under the circum- 
stances. 

They bivouacked that night upon the hill. It was a 
night of horror. There was but one surgeon in both 
armies, Ferguson's. He did what he could to alleviate 
the sufferings of the wounded but with little success. 
The Americans had gained a stupendous victory but 
their position was still most precarious. With a number 
of prisoners almost equal to their total force, they were 
in imminent danger of attack, for they believed Tarleton 
was near. Anxious hours were passed until daybreak 
and they took up their march in retreat. 

After the first day's march information was brought 
them that Cruger at Ninety Six had ruthlessly hanged 
a number of Whigs whom he had captured. At the in- 
stance of the Carolina men, with the spirit of revenge 
hot in their breasts, thirty of the principal men among 
the Tories were tried by summary court-martial and 
sentenced to death. Nine of them in bunches of three 
were at once hanged from a huge tree near the head- 
quarters. Among those sentenced were the two moun- 
taineers who had deserted on the march and betrayed 
the advance to Ferguson. One of them was a mere boy. 
He was at once reprieved. The other was one of Sevier's 
men. The gallant soldier claimed him and begged the 
other officers that he might be permitted to have him. 
The request was granted, and the grateful man became 
one of the most zealous partisans of the Revolution 
thereafter. 

One of the condemned men had a young brother 
among the prisoners — a mere boy. After the first group 
had been executed the lad begged permission to speak 



The Pioneers of East Tennessee 93 

to his brother. Seizing his opportunity he cut the man's 
bonds, and he made a dash for freedom, the mountain 
men, cheering the daring of the boy and the desperate 
courage of the man, refrained from firing on him. 
Sevier, seconded by Shelby, thereupon interfered and 
the bloody reprisal ceased. 

In twenty-eight days the whole army was back over 
the mountains, and at home again — all but those who 
slept on the field of their glory or who died from their 
wounds on the return journey and had been buried on 
the way. One of these was the brother of Sevier. 

The heroic courage of the Scotch Presbyterian, 
Campbell; the resolute determination of the Welshman, 
Shelby; the dashing gallantry of the Frenchman, Sevier; 
the enthusiastic devotion of the Irishman, Lacey; the 
stern valor of the German, Hambright; the stubborn, 
dogged courage of Cleaveland, the Englishman, had won 
this most marvellous battle on the hills. 

Success came in the very nick of time. Cornwallis in 
great alarm recalled his scattered forces and hastily fell 
back into South Carolina, thus giving the Americans 
time to re-create an army under General Greene, that 
organizer of victory. The annihilation of Ferguson 
greatly encouraged the South Carolina Whigs, or rebels, 
and coupled with the victory of the Cowpens shortly 
after, where Morgan with some of the King's Mountain 
men to assist him, crushed Cornwallis' only other suc- 
cessful partisan, Tarleton, paved the way to Yorktown 
and the end of the Revolution. 



APPENDIX 

AN original account, ne-ver before published, of the Battle of King's Moun- 
tain, by the Rev. Stephen Foster, a participant. The original document 
has been preser'ved by the descendants of Col. fVilliam Campbell, -who com- 
manded the American forces in the battle. Its use is allowed by Mr. T. fV. Preston, 
now of yicksburg, Miss., one of his descendants, and a nati-ve of south ffest Virginia. 



THIS battle followed the battle of Enaree. From the latter 
it appears, that Col. Isaac Shelby carried off 200 prisoners 
beyond the pursuit of the british troops. Major Ferguson 
with a small party of regulars had been detached by Lord Corn- 
wallis, to the upper section of the Carolinas, to gathe'- troops to 
the royal standard and support the interest of his Majesty there. 
In this service he proved himself a man of energy and skill ; mus- 
tered a force of a thousand men, resented the afifront of Shelby, 
and addrefsed to the latter a threatening mefsage, that if he would 
not cease from such depredations, he would march over the moun- 
tains and burn those villages which supplied him with men. Shelby, 
residing at his father's dwelling, in Sullivan county East Tenn. 
on receiving this message, repaired to the settlements on Watauga 
river, 40 miles distant. He there had ample opportunity of com- 
municating its import to Col. John Sevier, who joined him in a 
sentiment of congenial heroism, for meeting so deserving and re- 
spectable an army. The mefsage before them told them of the foe. 
It presented to them an enterprise of a new and daring kind. The 
object of this enterprize was single and distinct. This was Fer- 
guson the whole of Ferguson and nothing but Ferguson. 

The force which these gentlemen were able to muster in the two 
settlements, was little over 400 men, The army they were to 
attack was double in number ; and headed by the ablest partisan 
leader in the land. Shelby therefore addrefsed a letter to Col. 
William Campbell of Washington Cnty. Va. to come over and 
join in the enterprize. Campbell at first refused, from a desire 

95 



96 Border Fights and Fighters 

to march in a different direction, and unite his troops with those, 
which were then struggling in the lower sections of his own state. 
A second mefsage from Shelby was successful. Campbells divi- 
sion amounted to 400 men. The place of meeting was the Syca- 
more Flats on Watauga river, at the foot of the Yellow Mountain. 

They ascended this mountain on horseback about the first of 
Oct. 1780. They encamped the same night in a gap of the Moun- 
tain on the opposite side. The ascent of the ^Mountain was not 
very difficult. 

It was a road travelled before ; but was impafsable for wag- 
gons. 

No provisions were taken but such as each man could carry 
in his wallet, or saddlebags. The sides and top of the Mountain 
were covered with snow " shoe mouth deep " — On the top of the 
Mountain and troops paraded, here were one hundred acres of 
beautiful table land. A Spring issuing throgh it ran over into 
the Watauga. On reaching the plain beyond the Mountain, they 
found themselves in a country covered with verdure and breathed 
an atmosphere of summer mildnefs. The 2nd night they rested 
at Cathy's plantation. The third day they fell in with Gen. 
McDowel, and that night held a general consultation of the Officers. 
Gen. McDowel was without troops. Yet his rank and former 
services could not easily be overlooked; and at the same time 
these young and daring officers, impatient to inflict a decisive blow 
on Ferguson, were unwilling to brook the delay, that might ensue 
from entrusting the command to him. It was accordingly stated 
in council, that they needed an experienced officer to command 
them ; they knew Gen. Morgan was the man they wanted ; they 
were unacquainted with Gen. Greene, and feared that their re- 
quest to him for Morgans services would be little attended to, 
coming as it necefsarily must, from strangers. To obviate this 
difficulty so apparently perplexing, McDowel very generously 
offered to be their mefsenger, being personally acquainted with 
Greene & Morgan and his offer was gladly and promptly accepted. 

It was now a matter of immediate consultation who should lead 
them to the intended attack. Col. Campbell having been nomi- 
nated by Col. Shelby, both from a principle of courtesy and the 
superior number of men in his regiment, was elected accordingly. 

The fourth night they rested at a rich Tory's, where they ob- 
tained abundance of every nesefsary refreshment. — On pafsing near 
the Cowpens, they heard of a large body of tories about eight 



The Pioneers of East Tennessee 97 

miles distant. And, although the main enterprize was not to be 
delayed a single moment, a party of 80 volunteers under ensign 
Robert Campbell was permitted to go in chase of them during 
the night. These had removed before our party came to the place, 
who accordingly after riding all night came up with the main 
body the next day. 

On the next night a similar expedition was conducted by an- 
other Oiificer without succefs, but without adding any delay to 
the march of the army. At Gilbertown, about two or three days 
march from the enemy, our troops fell in with Col. Williams, 
(who was able to select the best Pilots) together with Col Cleave- 
land, Tracy, and Brandon, each commanding a body of men, 
and the whole amounting to 300. These were retreating before 
Ferguson, and were glad to join their forces to ours. 

On the night before the day of action, a misunderstanding arose 
in the attempt to crofs a river. Two fords were taken, and the 
army had separated and was crofsing at both. When this was 
perceived by the officers, a halt was ordered, and the men rested 
on this side until morning. Two roads were here. And to pre- 
vent Spies from pafsing and repafsing, they were both guarded 
by appointed watchman. The least public of these was guarded 
by Lieu. John Sawyers, (since Col. Sawyers,) and 25 men were 
here taken in this single night. Our officers and men were so 
bent upon their object. So anxious to take Ferguson by surprise, 
and so apprehensible of his pofsible escape, that they could not 
brook the delay of footmen. 400 of them were on foot. The 
other 700 were mounted riflemen. It was proposed now for the 
sake of despatch, that these should move in the speediest man- 
ner. And although the whole force was already too small, it was 
determined to risk the fate of the enterprize, in the bravery and 
addrefs of 700 men. While preparations were made by the officers 
for this divifsion, many of the troops in the mean time thought 
it a fit opportunity for refreshment. Beef was spitted at the fire, 
and mixed dough was in the very procefs of baking; when the 
order was given for the troops to march. — The hot meat without 
roasting, and the hot dough without baking, was rudely thrust 
by every man into his saddlebags or wallet, and the men galloped 
off without a murmur. This was in the dead of night. They 
were 45 miles from the enemy, and nothing but the very best rid- 
ing, over such roads as the country afforded, would bring them 
the next day to his quarters, in season to terminate the action 



98 Border Fights and Fighters 

by daylight. They were accordingly there by two O'clock, in the 
afternoon. Here a few intervening circumstances may be men- 
tioned. Capt. Craig's and some other companies, on crofsing a 
river, (probably Broad river) were made to beleive by their com- 
manding officers, for the sake of trying the courage of their men, 
that the enemy was upon the opposite bank. The enemy, accord- 
ingly, which was nothing else than the advanced guards of our 
own troops, made his appearance for their reception, retiring a 
little as they approached the river. They crofsed the river, dis- 
mounted from their horses, and advanced to the proposed attack 
on the enemy. But finding no enemy there to meet them, they 
returned to their horses, and proceeded without further delay. 

Not far onward, they were to pafs a house on the right. This 
house formed a corner in the road. They turned it and bent their 
course to the right hand. Here stood a man in the decrepitude 
of age, leaning on a staff, and watching our men with great earnest- 
ness of visage. — He called out : " God Blefs you," till his voice 
died in the distance of the way, and in the noise and hurry of 
the forward march. They now began to meet with scattered 
notices of the enemy's encampment in the burnt fences and trod- 
den ground. 

As the afternoon advanced, some began to talk of an encamp- 
ment for our troops, and to give up the hope of meeting the 
enemy to day. 

They had now travelled about 45 miles, and during much of 
this time had been wet with rain. It was about 2 Oclock when 
coming to a place within two or three miles of the enemy, they 
intercepted two of his picquets, and captured the same without 
firing a gun. 

Ferguson may have had some notice of our troops, though not 
immediately before their arrival. A deserter from Col. Cleave- 
land's division, who will be mentioned again in the sequel of the 
narrative, had arrived at the British quarters a day or two Be- 
fore and told Ferguson of the approaching attack. His appear- 
ance was said to be so shabby and unpromising as to detract much 
from any high regard to his statement. Yet so wary and vigilant 
an officer, as Ferguson was not to be taken altogether by surprise. 
He had chosen his position, and afsumed an attitude of rigorous 
defence. 

He was confident in his own measures, yet to secure every pre- 
caution he sent a mefsage to Cornwallis desiring aid, at the same 



The Pioneers of East Tennessee 99 

time stating, he had named the place of his encampment, King's 
Mountain, in honour of the King, and was so strongly fortified 
here, that if all the rebels in hell were rained downed upon him, 
they could not drive him from it. The mefsage was intercepted 
by our men and Cornwallis knew nothing of the danger, till Fergu- 
son was no more. 

King's Mountain is a ridge running east and west, in york dis- 
trict, S. C. about 10 miles north of the Cherokee ford of Broad 
river. A ledge of rock skirts the summit of this Mountain on 
the south side. 

This formed a natural breastwork for the enemy, behind which 
they could lie with only their heads exposed, and take leisurely 
aim at our troops on that side. And it is a remarkable fact, which 
does credit to the rifles of our men, that an unusual number of 
the enemy, who fell, were shot through the head. Before the 
action, Col. Shelby remarked to the army, that he had been twice 
likely to be killed for an enemy by his own men. He therefore 
recommended, as an expedient of safety, that every man first strip 
off his coat and hat, and go to battle without them. This was 
done by himself, and his regiment, but not by others. 

Col. Campbell also was induced to lay off his coat which being 
very peculiar in its color and form, would have rendered him sig- 
nally conspicuous from others. King's Mountain now emerged to 
the view of our men, and the British and Tory troops were seen 
through the forest rising from dinner. 

The battle line was quickly formed. The main attack was to 
be made by Campbell's and Shelby's division up the east and steep- 
est side of the mountain. Sevier was to ascend the left side of 
the mountain from these and Cleaveland on his right. Of the main 
body Campbell's division was on the right and Shelby's on the 
left. Capt. Elliot, in Shelby's division, occupied the extreme left, 
Lieut. Sawyers next to him, Capt. Maxwell's company next, and 
Capt. Webb the extreme right. 

The order of march, in the companies composing Col. Camp- 
bell's division was, as nearly as the hurry of the transaction would 
admit, the order of the battle line from right to left, the follow- 
ing: Capt. Dysart ; Capt. Colvil : Capt. Edmonston ; Capt. Beatie; 
Lieut. Bowen ; Captain Craig; — 

But the movement forward was with so much agility, and the 
retreat so hurried and abrupt, that these companies not only be- 
come intermixed with one another, but also with those of Col. 



100 Border Fights and Fighters 

Shelby's. The troops were ordered to shout the Indian war- 
whoop, ascend the mountain and attack the enemy. This was 
done with great vigour, when the enemy advanced in firm platoons, 
fired their muskets, charged with fixed bayonets, and obliged them 
to give way. In the mean time Cols. Williams, Tracy, Brandon, 
Cleaveland and Sevier, who were to march from the left of the 
main body and compafs the South and West side of the Moun- 
tain, in the space of 15 minutes arrived there, and afsailed the 
enemy from that direction. This gave our troops an opportunity 
to rally and return to the charge. 

In the early part of this action, Col. Shelby was employed at 
some distance from his regiment to reconnoitre the enemy by a 
movement around the north side of the mountain, to the right of 
our troops. Here he discovered a spacious opening between the 
right of Campbell's and the left of Seviers. He viewed it to be 
an advantageous position for directing a constant and effectual fire 
upon the backs of a body of Ferguson's troops, which lay guarded 
in front by the ledge of rocks. 

He detached Ensign Robert Campbell with about 40 men for 
this service, and returned to the support of his own division. 

He found Col. Campbell's men in great disorder from the first 
shock of the British Platoons ; and called Lieuts. Sawyers and 
some others, who afsisted to rally and bring them back. In a 
short time after the rallying began Col. Campbells horse became 
exhausted; The Col. dismounted and fought through the rest of 
the action on foot. 

This was a bay horse of thin appearance and had been nearly 
overcome by the fatigue of the march. The horse which Col. 
Campbell ordinarily rode, was a bald face black horse. After the 
first retreat. Col. Shelby, it is said, saw this horse and some rider 
on him, whom he mistook for Col. Campbell at the distance of 
some 200 yds from the scene. 

Ensign Campbell as above directed by Col. Shelby occupied a 
spur of the Mountain within 40 yds of the enemy. When leading 
his men to this place, one of them from a view of its exposed 
location, exclaimed to his commander ; " what ! Are you taking 
us there to be marks for the enemy?" " No," said the other, "to 
make marks of the enemy." And this proved actually to be the 
case. For after this detachment had plied their rifles in the 
succefsive discharge of several rounds to a man, Ferguson per- 
ceived their fire to be so fatal, that he gave orders to his ad- 



The Pioneers of East Tennessee loi 

jutant, MCGinnis, to dislodge them. McGinnis marched his party 
to the charge. Campbell heard him order them to " make ready," 
and he commanded his own men to " stand fast," that is to stand 
behind the trees. 

McGinnis then ordered them to fire on Campbell, who, from the 
narrownefs of the tree that shielded him, expected to be shot 
through by several bullets at once. And he escaped this fate, 
not by the protection of the tree, but by the horizontal aim of 
the british muskets, which converged their bullets to a place above 
him, cracking the bark and splinters from the tree and shattering 
them down upon his head. 

Campbell had now a load in his gun, which he discharged with 
aim at the shoulders of McGinnis, and the latter instantly fell. 

The party now emerged from behind their trees, discharged their 
pieces with similar exactnefs, and the survivors of the British party 
retired to the main body. Campbell inspected the body of McGin- 
nis, and saw a shot through the part of the shoulder he had 
aimed at. 

And his party resumed their galling fire upon the backs of 
Fergusons men. On all sides now the fire was brisk. Our men 
had become cool from the first panic of the British charge; and 
were plying their rifles with steady effect. The matter was come 
to a desperate crisis. 

Ferguson was still in the heat of battle with characteristic cool- 
nefs and daring. He ordered Capt. Dupoister with a body of regu- 
lars to reinforce a position about loo yds distant. But before they 
arrived at this short distance, they were thined too much by the 
American rifles to render any effectual support. He then ordered 
his cavalry to mount, with a view of making a desperate onset at 
their hedd. But these only presented a better mark for the Ameri- 
can rifles, and fell as fast, as they would mount their horses. He, 
then perceiving the thinnest line, which surrounded him, to be that 
of Ensign Campbell's Riflemen, proceeded on horseback with two 
militia Cols, with the apparent design to force his pafsage through 
them and attempt an escape. But before reaching the line of bat- 
tle he was shot and expired. He had held out with inflexible reso- 
lution beyond even the hope of resistance. His men once raised 
the white flag for surrender, and he pulled it down. He had a 
shrill sounding silver whistle, whose signal was universally known 
through the ranks, was of immense service on many occasions, and 
gave a kind of ubiquity to his movements. 



I02 Border Fights and Fighters 

Who shot Ferguson remains in uncertainty. Several have 
claimed it. But the honor seams distinctly accorded to none. Nor 
does it appear to universal satisfaction whether he was shot on 
horseback or sitting upon a stone. 

The Americans were now in regular columns approaching the 
British. 

A large section of Col. Campbell's troops advanced with too much 
rapidity, when a reserved fire from the British breastwork did more 
fatal execution there than in the whole action beside. 

Because this forward movement brought them to a level with 
the British muskets, which in most instances overshot their heads. 

Lieut. Sawyers to this moment kept his men at their station, from 
which they had been firing through most of the battle, at the dis- 
tance of about twenty live steps from the enemy. Seeing the re- 
served fire discharged, he ordered his men to advance in order to 
increase the enemy's confusion. The same was done by the other 
companies on this side of the mountain. 

And Col. Sevier, who had gallantly borne his share in the conflict, 
was resolutely crowding up on the other side. The British regulars 
and American tories, were not only surrounded, but crowded close 
together, cooped up in a surprisingly narrow spaces, by the sur- 
rounding prefsure of the American troops, and fatally galled by 
an incefsant fire. 

Dupoister, who succeeded in the place of Ferguson, perceived but 
too plainly, that any further struggle was in vain. He raised the 
white flag and exclaimed for quarters. Quarters were given by a 
general cefsation of the American fire. But this cefsation was not 
by any means complete. Some did not understand the meaning of a 
white flag. Others, who knew its meaning very well, knew that 
this flag had been raised before, but quickly pulled down again by 
the British Commander. 

Andrew Evans was one of these. He was standing near to Col. 
Campbell, and in the very act of shooting, when Campbell jerked 
his gun upwards to prevent its eflfect, exclaiming; "Evans, for 
God's sake, don't shoot, it is murder to kill them when they raise 
the white flag." 

Col. Campbell seems not to have been distinguished as the Ameri- 
can commander. For, having fought as a foot soldier during most 
of the action, having climbed over the rocks of the enemy's breast- 
work with his men, who drove them away from it, he was standing 
in the front rank of his soldiery, his coat off and his shirt collar 
open like a sturdy farmer. 



The Pioneers of East Tennessee 103 

Dupoister came riding on a gray horse not far from the place 
where the Col was standing and inquired, " where is your gen- 
eral ? " Mr. Beatie and another pointed to the place and Mr. Crow, 
who was not a guns lenth from Campbell, heard Dupoister ex- 
claim twice, "Col. Campbell, it was damned unfair;" alluding to 
the above mentioned continued fire, to which Campbell made no 
answer but the order to dismount. — He dismounted accordingly 
and held his sword for deliverance to his Captors, which was in 
the first place received by Evan Shelby and handed to Col. Camp- 
bell. The arms were now lying in front of the prisoners, without 
any orders how to dispose of them. Col. Shelby, from the part 
of the line which he commanded, rode out of the ranks with the 
apparent design of finding Col. Campbell. Returning without suc- 
cefs, he exclaims, "good God, what can we do in this confusion?" 
" We can order the Prisoners from their arms," said Sawyers. — 
" Yes," said Shelby, " that can be done." The Prisoners were 
accordingly marched to another place, and there surrounded by a 
double guard. This action was on the 7th of Oct. 1780. The lofs 
of the enemy was, 225 killed, 130 wounded, 700 prisoners, and 1500 
stand of arms. The American lofs was 30 killed and 60 wounded. 
About 700 men achieved this victory. 

Sevier led about 240, Shelby 200, Campbell 400, the Carolina Cols. 
300, making in all about 1140, of which, it has been stated, that 
about 400 were left behind for want of horses. These were met 
the next day and reunited with the victors in their march from 
the scene. So signal an exploit could not long remain a secret to 
Lord Cornwallis, and numerous rumors soon reached our men 
that he was in pursuit to recover his prisoners. Our troops, there- 
fore, moved from the battle ground with as little delay as possible, 
to make sure of a victory so happily won. 

And here let us pause for a moment, to answer the following 
question : — Why were so many killed in the American ranks, when 
the British platoons so generally overshot them? 

1st. Because the great body of Fergusons troops were tories, 
as good marksman as our own, who always sought an object for 
their rifles. Lieut. Edmonston was standing a moment seeking a 
view of an enemy to fire at among Fergusons men behind the 
breastworks, and was shot by a rifleman from the very place he 
was inspecting. This incident was an example of many. For the 
rocks which formed a part of this breastwork, shielded the enemy, 
and enabled them to fire leisurely at our men. 



104 Border Fights and Fighters 

2ndly. The eagernefs of our men for action. This was so great 
that it led them to exposures both dangerous and uselefs. Their 
surest and most effectual mode of fighting was to stand at the dis- 
tance of a proper gun shot, and fire with deliberate aim at their 
enemy. But many of them were too impatient for this delay. 

Moses Shelby, Fagan and some others, leaped upon the waggons 
of the enemy's breastwork in the uselefs attempt to storm his camp. 
But they were soon carried off wounded from the scene. Some 
were wounded by the charge of the British bayonets, before they 
would retire from the first afsault. The death of Col. Williams 
gave a signal instance of this intemperate eagernefs for action. He 
espied Ferguson towards the close of the action on horseback, and 
made for him with the full determination of a persona! encounter. 
William Moore was close to him, and heard him exclaim " I will 
kill Ferguson or die in the attempt." 

He spurred his horse to a speedy movement, when a rifle bullet 
stopped his career. He survived till the white flagg told the enemy's 
surrender, and said, " I die contented." 

3dly. From the enemy's reserved fire at the close of the action. 
Lieutenant Sawyers saw the companies around him, after a general 
discharge from the British, go too hastily forward, and checked 
his own men from doing so. This movement forward near the 
place of the waggons brought many of our men on a level with 
the British. — And their reserved fire, which was then discharged 
in its usual horizontal direction, did fatal execution in our ranks 
at that place. The number killed in Col. Campbell's division dur- 
ing the action was 13. The action was on Saturday. On the next 
Saturday a Court martial was held by our Officers to try from 
the ranks of the tory prisoners some offenders of a notorious kind. 
Thirty two persons of this description were condemned to die, of 
which 23 were pardoned by the commanding officer. The remain- 
ing nine were executed the same night. This summary procedure 
was thought necefsary; first from the unsettled condition of affairs, 
which precluded all hope of trial by jury; 2ndly. from the flagi- 
tious nature of the offences, one of which was the following. A 
man went to his neighbor's house and inquired of a little boy, 
" Where is your father? " to which the lad answered, " he is not at 
home." And the man shot him without further ceremony ; though 
fortunately the youth recovered of his wound. 3dly. to deter others 
from similar offences, and prevent these men from doing them 
again. 



The Pioneers of East Tennessee 105 

The prisoners and their captors proceeded on their march. The 
prisoners were every night obliged to sit upon the ground on pain 
of being shot by the guard, which surrounded them. 

One night about two weeks after the battle, a boy was acting for 
one of the sentries. One of the prisoners taking notice of this con- 
trived to move himself gradually and without rising near to the 
place where the boy kept guard. As soon as he was near enough 
to take the requisite advantage, he started with a quick jump, and 
was making off with speed, when the boy wheeled upon his heel, 
levelled his rifle and shot the fugitive through the kidneys. The 
man was now disabled from flight, and was drawn back again into 
the ranks of the prisoners. 

In the morning it was ascertained by the testimony of Col. Cleave- 
land, that he was a deserter from the troops of the latter, and was 
the very man who had gone to tell Ferguson of our approach. 
This man, therefore, though in imminent hazard of his life through 
his wound, must be tried by the laws and usages of war. The court 
martial was equally divided, and Col. Shelby, who had been absent 
on a visit for the night, was called on his arrival to decide the life 
or death of the culprit by a single vote. The march was now de- 
layed nearly two hours ; and Shelby, though apparently of a rough 
and careless exterior, was so deeply concerned with his own respon- 
sibility, that while some were teasing him for an immediate decision, 
he would not give it in lefs than half an hour. He finally gave it 
for the man's execution : and preparations were made for it ac- 
cordingly. 

Two stakes were put in the ground converging towards each 
other at the top for him to stand upon, while his neck was 
fast by a rope from above, ready to hang him when the 
under support should be drawn away. He was permitted to stand 
in this attitude an hour, during which time he was constantly 
entreating Col. Cleaveland; "Oh, Col. Cleaveland, I pray pardon 
me, and I will be a good and faithful soldier ever after." In the 
mean time. Col. Campbell comes up and asks ; " was you the de- 
serter, who left our troops to inform the enemy? " " No," said the 
other. " Now," added Col. Campbell, " you are quickly to stand be- 
fore your Maker in judgment. Tell me in truth, if you was that 
deserter." " Yes," said the other, " I was." And his execution 
took place accordingly. So many of our troops, as were judged 
needful for safty, accompanied the prisoners a journey of three 
weeks from King's Mountain to the Mulberry fields, Wilkesbor- 



io6 Border Fights and Fighters 

ough in the state of North Carolina. Here they were met by a 
detachment of some hundreds of Carolina Militia and with these 
the prisoners were left in custody. Cols. Campbell ; Shelby and 
Sevier attended the prisoners to this place ; then left them and re- 
turned home. 

In this expedition the exposures and privations were extreme. 
Four hundred or more were on foot. But these had kept up with 
the horse some distance beyond the Yellow Mountain. The speed 
of their march required bodies inured to the hardest service. The 
last day they rode forty five miles, and then encountered a disci- 
plined enemy posted on a high and advantageous position. Having 
no baggage waggons nor public stores, every man was, from ne- 
cessity, his own provider. 

His fare was the plainest, the coarsest and the scarcest. His 
resources of provision, like the Sedonian widow's, were " a hand- 
full of meal." This placed in his saddle-bags, furnished the amount 
of his luxury. And when it was exhausted he was left at the 
mercy of fortune for the rest. 

Their sick and wounded were hurried from the battle scene with 
all imaginable speed to avoid the afsault of a pursuing enemy. 

The softest accommodation that could be made ready for con- 
veyance, was the fresh hides of the slaughtered cattle, fastened to 
two poles ; these attached to two horses, one before and one behind, 
and thus the sufferer carried off in safety. To specify particulars 
would spin this narrative to a tedious prolixity Two instances 
only will be here inserted- 

Alexander McMillan rode all night preceding the action ; of 
course was without sleep. The second night, that is, the night after 
the action, he was attending with Henry Dickenson, to the wants 
of James Laird and Charles Kilgore, the latter was shot with two 
balls through the side, and the former with one, near the middle — 
These were constantly in want of water. Water was of very diffi- 
cult procurement. And the effort to keep them in a constant sup- 
ply, employed these men with very little intermission, and without 
allowing them a moment of rest. The next night Mr. McMillan 
was on guard. Here were three nights without a wink of sleep. 
The fourth night he was on guard — every two hours, with intervals 
of rest of the same length of time. 

The guard stood so thick around the prisoners, as to be able to 
touch each other hands by reaching. Here stood McMillan, firmly 
braced, with his gun in his right hand resting upon the ground; 



The Pioneers of East Tennessee 107 

Some time in the night, Major Evan Shelby, going the rounds of 
the watch to observe its order, comes to him and asks ; " where is 
your gun?" The latter supposing it to have fallen at his feet, 
busily moved them without stooping down, in order to find it lying 
beneath him. But not finding it there, he felt constrained to reply 
to the unwelcome interrogatory, " really I cannot tell." 

Shelby stepped aside, took it from a tree, against which it was 
leaning, and handed it back to the owner, with these words ; " re- 
member it is death to sleep on guard." McMillan acknowledged 
that this was law, but added in apology, that he had been four 
days deprived of sleep, from the above mentioned unavoidable 
causes, Shelby rejoined: "you must sleep no more upon guard;" 
but never divulged the secret. And for this generous forbearance 
on the part of the inspecting officer, McMillan has ever since, cher- 
ished for him a sense of high personal regard. Though he thinks 
that if measures had been taken against him, and death adjudged 
for neglect of duty, the circumstances of the case would have been 
seen to urge so strong a plea in his own justification, as to secure 
a reprieve from the designated punishment. 

The day after Wm. Campbell was chosen to the command he pro- 
posed to Robt. Campbell to lead off a detachment of men by night, 
and fall upon a party of tories, eight miles distant. The offer was 
gladly accepted, and a body of about eighty volunteers set off for 
the attack. The tories had retreated, our party had no fighting; 
they returned and rejoined the main body by daylight. — The next 
night Robert Campbell was on a similar expedition, under the com- 
mand of another officer. 

On the next night they began the above mentioned march of 45 
miles, previous to the action. Here were three successive nights 
and days of the hardest service, without a moment of sleep. The 
next, he was requested to take charge of some part of the guard. 
But he stated to the officer that this was impossible, from the above 
mentioned incefsent vigils. He then sunk down by a tree and knew 
nothing more till at daylight ; he woke shivering in the frost. Col. 
Shelby that night being officer of the guard, was now seen with 
others, sitting at the guard fire, Campbell arose, approached the fire, 
and was presented by Shelby, with a bottle of rum for immediate 
relief. He drank of this, sat down by the fire, and undoubtedly 
felt the justice of the old Testament prescription; "Give strong 
drink to him that is ready to perish and wine to those that be of 
heavy hearts." 



io8 Border Fights and Fighters 

These two instances may perhaps suffice. For how can it be 
requisite to give publicity here, even if the writers information 
were adequate, to the individual suffering of the 60 wounded? — 
to tell of broken limbs and mangled bodies, of bullet holes through 
the body, probed by a sympathizing fellow-soldier, with a smoothed 
twig of sassafras, of mortification spreading from one limb to an- 
other, of the want of all kinds of relief from a surgeon, when none 
was present but a wrathful swearing British Doctor? — to prove that 
the privations and sufferings of these men were extreme? Nor 
does it seem any more necefsary to specify cases of individual 
valour. Two instances only of faltering courage have been men- 
tioned to the writer, from Col. Shelby's division. One was of a 
Captain lying flat upon his back in the beginning of the action. 
Another was of a captain who exclaimed for bullets to a comrade, 
who was passing him to go up the mountain. 

" Bullets, bullets, my dear sir, I have not a bullet in my pouch." 
" Here is enough of them," said his friend reaching out a handful 
to give him, " O, they will not fit my gun," said the other, who was 
accordingly left to this bloodlefs dilemma. The rest of these men 
were eager for action, and determined on victory, and seemed to 
have answered well to the sentiment of their Commander, who told 
them before leaving the waters of the Watauga, that he wanted no 
man to join the enterprize, who did not wish to fight the enemy. 
The troops of the other Cols, appear to have been actuated by a 
similar spirit. 

And the whole history of the enterprize demonstrates, that our 
men were led to espouse it, not from a fear, that the enemy would 
execute his vain threats upon their villages, For to these Moun- 
taineers, nothing than such a scheme would have made prettier 
game for their rifles ; nothing more desirable than to entice such an 
enemy from his pleasant roads, rich plantations, and gentle climate, 
with his ponderous baggage and valuable armory, into the very cen- 
ter of their own fastnesses, to hang upon his flank, to pick up his 
stragglers, to cut off his foragers, to make short and desperate sal- 
lies upon his camp, and finally to make him a certain prey without a 
struggle and without lofs. Nor was it the authority or influence of 
a state, which led them to engage in this hazardous service. They 
knew not whether to any or to what state they belonged. — From the 
rude circumstances of their early settlement, the difficulty of pass- 
ing the wide ridges of Mountains, and their constant seclusion from 
their eastern friends, they were living in a state of primitive inde- 
pendence. 



The Pioneers of East Tennessee 109 

And it was not till several years after this, that from the apparent 
and urgent necessity of the case, they created a temporyry Gov- 
ernment of their own.* Nor can it be expected, that that gratiu- 
tous patriotism, from which this enterprise evidently sprung, so 
different from that of a paper victory, a scramble for office, & for 
gain, can be fully comprehended by modern politicians. In those 
days of different principles, to know that American liberty was in- 
vaded, and that the only apperent alternative in the case, was Amer- 
ican independence of subjugation, was enough to nerve their hearts 
to the boldest pulsation of freedom, and ripen their purposes to 
the fullest determination of putting down the aggressor. The suc- 
cess at King's Mountain was fraught with signal advantage to 
America. It broke up the royal interest in the upper section of 
Carolina. It enabled our Generals to concentrate their forces upon 
great objects; and was one in that series of happy incidents, which 
conspired in the progress of the next year, to consummate the 
splendid achievement at Yorktown.' 



NOTE BY THE REV. MR. FOSTER 

The original letter is written on foolscap ; the paper is 
yellowed with age and very much worn, but the writing is 
easily decipherable. It appears to have been corrected some 
time after it was written. There is a peculiarity in the pen 
work and the ink of the editor, however, which betrays him. 
The above follows the original in spelling, punctuation, and 
form in every way, as closely as I could determine it. I have 
not thought it necessary to correct certain obvious errors in 
this letter, evidently written some time after the event, into 
which the writer has been betrayed by his uncertain mem- 
ory. But it may be well to state that the place of the battle 
was known as King's Mountain long before Ferguson's ar- 
rival, and its name did not refer to the English monarch, 
but to a settler named King who formerly lived at its foot. 

C. T. B. 

*The Frankland Government. 



Part III 
KENTUCKY 

I 

Daniel Boone, the Greatest of the Pioneers 



DANIEL BOONE, THE GREATEST OF 
THE PIONEERS 

" A dirge for the brave old Pioneer! 

Columbus of the land! 
Who guided freedom's proud career 

Beyond the conquered strand, 
And gave her pilgritn sons a home 

No monarch's step profanes, 
Free as the chainless winds that roam 

Upon its boundless plains." 

I. The Land Beyond the Mountains 

BEYOND the Alleghenies, so long the western 
boundary of the new nation, hes a vast expanse 
of country between the Ohio and the Cumberland 
Rivers, cut by the thirty-seventh and thirty-eighth paral- 
lels of latitude, now known as Kentucky. No more 
beautiful region is to be found in the United States. Its 
soil is fertile and productive, its climate agreeable and 
invigorating. It is to-day one of the most delightful 
states in the Union, noted for the beauty of its women, 
the virility of its men, and the speed of its horses — to 
say nothing of the blueness of its green grass and the 
quality of its whiskey. One has to be genial and mellow 
even in speaking of the state and its people. 

Certainly no other spot on the globe seems to be 
better designed for humanity, yet from the days of the 

S 113 



114 Border Fights and Fighters 

mound builders to the time of the Revolution it was an 
uninhabited wilderness, given over to the buffalo, the 
elk, the deer, the bear and the wolf, who prowled through 
its dense forests or played in its grassy glades. From 
prehistoric times no race or tribe made its domicile there. 
Hunting parties of the Shawnees and even the distant 
Iroquois from the north, ranged its wildernesses and met 
in deadly conflict similar bodies of men from the Chero- 
kee lands to the south, or from the Chickamauga terri- 
tories on the west, so that its forests resounded often with 
war-cries of savage foemen. 

Why it was not adopted as the settling place of one 
or the other of the tribes has never been ascertained. 
It may be that no tribe felt itself strong enough to hold 
the ground to the exclusion of the others. It was so 
desirable that its very beauty and fertility operated to 
make it no man's land. No tribe was strong enough to 
hold it alone, yet all combined to keep it free. It was 
not until the advent of that world-claimer, the white man, 
that it became a home for humanity. Danger, opposi- 
tion, prior claim, never deterred the pioneers. The first 
settlers were usually willing to purchase the right of emi- 
nent domain if they could do so from any recognized 
authority or power, but if they could not — well, the earth 
itself belonged to the pioneer and he took any portion 
of it without compunctions of conscience or questions 
of law. 

Who was the first white man to see Kentucky? Some 
have said that it was Moscosco, the successor of De Soto, 
in 1542-3, but without doubt the honor of the discovery 
accrues to another member of the Latin race, the great 
explorer La Salle, who was the first white man to put 
foot upon its smiling, pleasant soil in 1669-70. 



The Greatest of the Pioneers 115 

Colonel Wood of Virginia and Captain Thomas Batts 
of the same mother state, the latter sent by Governor 
Berkeley, had crossed the mountain barriers in a search 
for a water route to China in 1664 and in 1671 respec- 
tively, but it was hardly likely that they went far into 
Kentucky, if they saw it at all. The first real explorer 
was Dr. Thomas Walker, also of Virginia, who reached 
the banks of the Cumberland River in 1750. It was he 
who first marched through that romantic pass in the 
mountains, which, with the mountains themselves, and 
the river upon which he made his camp, he called after 
His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, the 
bloody butcher; and that was the first white man's name 
bestowed in Kentucky. It was indeed a name of ancient 
lineage traced down through the Cumbrians of the Brit- 
ish Isles, the Cymry of the continent, the Cimmerians 
of the Black Sea, directly from Gomer, son of Japhet ! 

The Walker expedition amounted to little and the in- 
terior of Kentucky remained a terra incognita until 1767, 
or thereabouts, when a certain John Finley, or Findlay, 
explored a small section of it and returned home to 
North Carolina to fill the minds of the adventurous 
young men with whom he came in contact, with tales 
of its romantic possibilities. Among those to whom he 
told the story of his adventures was a certain Daniel 
Boone, a settler, farmer, hunter and pioneer, who had 
already some knowledge of the country.* 

* This inscription on an ancient beech tree still standing on Boone's 
Creek, a small tributary to the Watauga in Washington County, Tennessee, 
" D. Boon cilled a bar on tree in the year 1760," seems to indicate that 
Boone had hunted across the mountains long before he met Finley. But 
there is no evidence that the inscription is the work of Boone, and, in spite 
of local traditions, a probability against it. 



ii6 Border Fights and Fighters 



II. The Greatest of the Pioneers 

Few men have been so written about as Daniel 
Boone* and most writers have succumbed to the temp- 
tation to romance about him, too; he is quite the hardest 
man to tell the truth about that I have ever attempted 
to discuss. Let the reader who differs from what is here 
set down give me credit for good intention. 

The investigator experiences a feeling of relief to find 
that Boone was born in the state of Pennsylvania. 
Nearly every other pioneer, explorer, discoverer or ad- 
venturer of note, in the trans-Allegheny regions, was born 
in the South. It is only fair to say that the West between 
the Alleghenies and the Mississippi was discovered, ex- 
plored, settled, protected and won for the United States 
by the people of the Southern States — a fact not gener- 
ally known, I think. Young Boone, one of a numerous 
family, first saw the light on the 22nd of October, 1733, at 
his father's farm-house in Exeter township, Berks County, 
Pennsylvania, near the village of Oley, which is a few 
miles northeast of the present city of Reading. His fath- 
er, George Boone, came from Devonshire, where he had 
filled the humble station of a weaver. The family origi- 
nally belonged to the Church of England but had be- 
come Quakers. Tliey removed to Pennsylvania in 171 7, 
whither three of the older children preceded them, like 
Caleb and Joshua, to spy out the land. 

They were plain substantial people, of limited educa- 

* Miner's excellent Boone Bibliography contains nearly one hundred 
and seventy-five references to lives and other sources of information con- 
cerning his career, and I have found several additional references which he 
does not mention. 



The Greatest of the Pioneers 117 

tion; sturdy, honest, independent, and capable, living 
simple healthy lives and usually attaining to a great age. 
Daniel Boone's education in arts and letters was of the 
most primitive character. His spelling was quite the 
worst I have ever come across, though, singular to state, 
his handwriting was rather graceful and flowing, perhaps 
because it partook of the physical characteristics of the 
man. His brother George was sufficiently well educated 
to teach school, and some of the family subsequently be- 
came rather noted mathematicians. 

But if young Daniel Boone knew but little about 
books and their contents, he was one of those who found 
" tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons 
in stones " — yes, we may add — " and good in every- 
thing." It was a wild primitive country in those days. 
The rifle of the hunter with the plough of the husbandman 
afforded the only means of support, and more often the 
hostile Indians caused the plough to be laid aside and the 
sole dependence put upon the weapon. 

So Daniel Boone grew up to strong vigorous man- 
hood in the forest far from urban influence, which in- 
deed he could never tolerate. His father moved to 
North Carolina in May, 1750, and established himself on 
a frontier farm on the Yadkin, then the very outpost 
of civilization. Daniel, by this time, one of a very nu- 
merous family, did his share of the work necessitated by 
the building of a wilderness home in that day, but he was 
ever fonder of the chase than of the plough, and as he was 
the most skilful member of the family with the rifle, he 
speedily became the hunter for them all. This indeed 
was no sinecure. 

In the course of time other families followed the ex- 
ample of the elder Boone and the country began to be 



ii8 Border Fights and Fighters 

thickly populated. At a very early age Daniel had mar- 
ried Rebecca Bryan, daughter of a neighboring settler. 
One of the most heroic of that splendid breed of pioneer 
women, she proved herself for over half a century a 
worthy mate indeed for the great adventurer. Boone 
had prospered, he had a growing family and a good farm, 
yet he was not happy. Something, an instinct which he 
could never explain or understand, drove him forward. 

He was one of those characters who are bound to be 
in the advance of civilization, who are made to lead it 
on, to " blaze " the pathway of progress. He grew rest- 
less and discontented. The advent of the settlers nat- 
urally destroyed the primeval character of the wilderness. 
Game became scarce and the ordinary demands of life 
more complex and harder to meet. Nomad that he was 
he felt that he must remove from his present settlement 
and find a new land to which to lead his family and in 
which to build his cabin. 

Often and often he gazed at the mountains soaring 
into the heavens to the westward of him and wondered 
what lay on the farther side. When Finley came home 
with his marvellous tales of the beauty and loneliness of 
the hunter's paradise beyond the everlasting hills, he 
found in Boone a ready auditor to his representations. 

III. The Exploration of Kentucky 

A party of six men was made up in the spring of 1769 
to cross the mountains under Finley's guidance and ex- 
plore the country. Be it remembered that this was Jo 
be no thoughtless excursion, no adventurous foray, no 
mere hunter's trip to a land teeming with game; it was 
a movement to found a home. They went to examine 



The Greatest of the Pioneers 119 

a land, to discover if it were suitable for settlement or 
not. Boone was unanimously chosen to lead this expe- 
dition in spite of the fact that Finley had been over the 
mountains before. On the 7th of June, 1769, late in the 
afternoon, they ascended the crowning range of the Alle- 
ghenies, crossed the ridge of the divide, stood upon the 
western slope and gazed down upon as enchanting a 
panorama as was ever spread before mortal vision, their 
first sight of Kentucky. 

In popular acceptance that name is supposed to mean 
'* dark and bloody ground." So far as it can be deter- 
mined the original meaning of the word Kentucky is " a 
pleasant meadow, a smiling land, whence the river fiows." 
How it got its name of " dark and bloody ground " is 
perhaps not difficult to understand. Some years after- 
ward when Colonel Henderson was negotiating with the 
Cherokees for the purchase of the Transylvania territory, 
they strove to prevent him from acquiring any land south 
of the Ohio. In the words of old Dragging Canoe, the 
war chief of the Chickamaugas, it was a bloody land, 
there was a gloomy shadow over it, the dark spirits dwelt 
there, and the white man would do well to let it alone. 
There was no doubt whatever that the words by which 
it became known, " dark and bloody ground," were ap- 
posite to its early history. 

The party immediately descended the mountains and 
began hunting and exploring until December. There- 
after the better to cover the country they divided and 
Boone and a companion named Stewart plunged steadily 
westward through the forests and openings. Near the 
Kentucky River they were captured by a band of wan- 
dering Indians and spent Christmas as prisoners. Boone, 
already showing that marvellous sagacity he manifested 



I20 Border Fights and Fighters 

in dealing with Indians, seeing that resistance would be 
hopeless, directed his companion to make no opposition 
but to affect to acquiesce cheerfully in their captivity. 
Their demeanor so disarmed the suspicions of their cap- 
tors that after they had been in company with them for 
a week they found opportunity to escape in the night. 

They shook off pursuit by their adroit woodmanship 
and finally reached the main camp. They found it plun- 
dered and destroyed and Finley and his companions 
gone. The four men have vanished from the pages of 
history. There is no record of their ever having returned 
to their friends across the mountains. It is believed that 
they were killed by the Indians and that their bones moul- 
dered away in the country that they had helped to dis- 
cover — the pioneer martyrs of a long line. 

Boone and Stewart were sorely depressed by this un- 
toward happening, but they continued their hunting and 
exploring, carefully avoiding hunting parties of Indians 
by their watchfulness. They had almost reached the end 
of their resources, however, and were considering a re- 
turn across the mountains, when, ranging through the 
forest one day in the early winter, they perceived two 
men coming through the wood, being themselves dis- 
covered at the same moment. 

The two parties took to the trees and approached 
each other cautiously, rifles primed and ready, each striv- 
ing to " draw a bead " on the other. What was their 
surprise and relief, however, to find that the two men 
were countrymen ! And their joy was the greater when 
Daniel Boone recognized in one of them his brother 
Squire — Squire being his name, not title. 

The coincidence was really marvellous, that in sixty 
thousand square miles of territory, these two parties 



The Greatest of the Pioneers 121 

should find each other. Squire had come to seek for 
Daniel and had brought him needed supplies of powder 
and salt. He brought news of the family on the Yadkin, 
who were prosperous and well under Mrs. Boone's fos- 
tering care. The four men determined to pass the win- 
ter in Kentucky. 

While hunting one day Daniel and Stewart were sur- 
prised by Indians. Stewart was shot and instantly killed, 
but Boone after a desperate fight managed to escape. 
Squire's companion also went off on a hunting expedi- 
tion and never came back. It is supposed that he lost 
his way and died of starvation or exposure. 

The brothers amassed a great store of peltries of much 
value. In the spring it was decided that Squire should 
return to North Carolina for supplies, while Daniel re- 
mained behind to protect the furs that had accumulated 
and to increase the stock. The redoubtable hunter was 
thus left entirely and absolutely alone in the midst of that 
vast territory; as he said, " without salt, bread, or sugar; 
without the society of a fellow creature; without the 
companionship of a horse or even a dog, often the affec- 
tionate companion of a lone hunter." 

He was desperately lonely and homesick for the sight 
of his wife and children. Impelled by this loneliness to 
action he made a long detour of exploration in the south- 
west along the Salt and Green Rivers. He saw frequent 
signs of Indians and was often forced to hide himself in 
the cane brakes without fire to escape their observation. 

On the 27th of July, 1770, his brother returned and 
they met at the old camp on the Red River. His brother 
brought with him ammunition and necessaries and two 
horses, perhaps the first horses ever ridden by a white 
man in Kentucky. The two men explored the country 



122 Border Fights and Fighters 

between the Cumberland and Green Rivers thoroughly 
during the year until March, 1771, when they turned 
northwest to the Kentucky River, where they decided to 
form their permanent settlement. Packing as much of 
their skins as their horses could carry they returned to 
the settlement on the Yadkin. 

There is a story that the two men fell in with another 
body of hunters called, from the duration of their stay in 
Kentucky, the Long Hunters, and that the party be- 
guiled the long hours of the evenings in the camp by 
reading aloud " Gulliver's Travels," which, with the pos- 
sible exception of the Bible, was the first English book 
read in the territory. Some of the names in the book 
still obtain in the state, as for instance, " Lulbegrud " 
Creek ! 

Daniel Boone had been absent over two years, during 
which time he had tasted neither bread nor salt nor seen 
any white men other than his travelling companions, who 
had all perished, except his brother, and the Indians. 
Meanwhile other parties of hunters had been exploring 
different portions of the country, mostly in the valley of 
the Cumberland, and at the same time Robertson and his 
North Carolinians were making the first settlement on 
the Watauga in the mountains of Tennessee. 

IV. The Settlement of Kentucky 

On the 25th of September, 1773, Boone, having dis- 
posed of all his earthly goods save what could be loaded 
upon pack-horses, accompanied by his family and that 
of his brother Squire and several other families amount- 
ing in all to some fifty persons, set forth for Kentucky. 
It was a small humble cavalcade, a petty insignificant 



The Greatest of the Pioneers 123 

migration, yet it marks a momentous date in history, for 
it was the inauguration of " a movement for the annihi- 
lation of savagery, the extinction of the Latin and the 
supremacy of the Teutonic civiHzation in North America, 
parallel to that rolling westward from New England, New 
York, and Pennsylvania, at the same time." 

It, with the settlement of Robertson on the Watauga, 
was the beginning of that great drama of our history 
which has been described in poetic language as " the 
winning of the west." Many people played a prominent 
part in it, but certainly Daniel Boone must stand more 
nearly as the Columbus of the movement than any other 
man. But it was to be some years before he established 
himself and family in that promised land. As they ap- 
proached the mountains a party of Indians fell upon their 
rear guard and killed six young men, among whom was 
Boone's eldest son. Alas, it was only the beginning of 
tragedies that dogged his family, for the Indians at one 
time or another made sad havoc among his kith and 
kin.* 

The unfortunate incident so discouraged the pioneers 
that, in spite of Boone's urging, they gave over the at- 
tempt and settled on the Clinch River in Virginia. 
Boone's heart was in Kentucky, however, and he made 
several visits there, one to bring back a party of surveyors 
who had gone there by the order of Lord Dunmore, the 
royal governor of Virginia. 

Boone was commissioned a captain in the royal service 
in Dunmore's War and had command of three frontier 
forts, where he did good service. He always carefully 
preserved his British commission thereafter, and it is 

*Two sons, a brother, two brothers-in-law, and other relatives were 
killed by Indians at different times. 



124 Border Fights and Fighters 

alleged frequently saved his life when he was captured 
by the Indians, who were the allies of the British, by 
exhibiting it as proof of his loyalty, a perfectly justifiable 
stratagem, of course. 

In 1775 he was sent by Colonel Richard Henderson 
of North Carolina, who had formed a proprietary com- 
pany and purchased a vast tract of land between the Ken- 
tucky and Cumberland Rivers, which he called Transyl- 
vania, to survey a road to the Kentucky River and estab- 
lish a fort there w^hich should be the head-quarters of the 
company. At the head of a small party of some twenty 
men, Boone again entered the promised land. 

It speaks well for the natural skill of the man as a road 
builder when we learn that the path he marked out over 
the mountains and up through the valleys remains a great 
highway to-day, and that subsequent generations spent 
thousands of dollars under the direction of skilled engi- 
neers on that very " Wilderness Road, " which for loca- 
tion they found could hardly be improved upon. Here 
is a letter written twenty one years after to General 
Shelby about that same road : 

Feburey the nth, 1796. 
Sir: 

After my Best Respts to your Excelancy and famyly 
I wish to inform you that I have sum intention of under- 
taking this New Rode that is to be Cut through the wil- 
derness and I think My Self intitled to the ofer of the 
Bisness as I first Marked out that Rode in March 1775 
and Never Re'd anything for my trubel and Sepose I 
am no Statesman I am a Woodsman and think My Self 
as Capable of Marking and Cutting that Rode as any 
other man. Sir if you think with Me I would thank you 
to write mee a Line by the post the first oportuneaty 
and he Will Lodge it at Mr. lohn Milerson hinkston 



The Greatest of the Pioneers 125 

fork as I wish to know Where and When it is to be Laet 
(let) So that I may atend at the time 

I am Deer Sir your very umble sarvent 
Daniel Boone 
To his Excelancy governor Shelby 

This interesting document proves conclusively that 
Boone was more familiar with the rifle than the pen. 

The party fought its way up through the Indians, los- 
ing several killed on the journey. They arrived at the 
chosen point on the ist of April and on the 29th of the 
month, having been joined by Henderson and other pro- 
prietors, they began the erection of a rude fort which 
they called in honor of their leader Boonesborough. The 
fort was begun after the Battle of Lexington and com- 
pleted just before the Battle of Bunker Hill, two mo- 
mentous events of which the colonists were in ignorance 
for a long time. When they did hear the news, however, 
their rejoicings showed their American patriotism was 
above proof. 

The fort, plans of which remain to us, was a very curi- 
ous one, although all frontier forts, except in dimensions, 
exactly resembled it. It was situated on the side of a 
hill with one corner quite near the river. At each of 
the four corners there was a two story blockhouse, and 
along the sides of the fort a series of little cabins placed 
close together, their roofs slanting inward. The loop- 
holed cabin walls, with the palisades which filled up the 
spaces where there were no cabins near each of the block- 
houses, enclosed a space two hundred and sixty feet long 
by one hundred and fifty wide. There were heavy timber 
gates in the front and back. The walls were about 
twelve feet high and there was hardly a nail or a piece of 
iron used in the whole enclosure. 



126 Border Fights and Fighters 

Here, in the same year, Boone brought his wife and 
family; and, on the 8th of September, Rebecca Boone 
and her daughters were the first white women to stand 
on the banks of the Kentucky. They were followed 




it 



' '^^Pl|ili|i 



1. BLOCKHOUSei. 
2.. ST0CKAD£S . 

i. Cabims. 
*. Gates. 
5. COOK Houie. 



o 



CD 



M i^; i r 


/ 




I 


o 


.... 


o 


J 


o 


... 




z 



Q 



Plan and Perspective View of Boonesborough. 



shortly after, however, by other families who settled at 
Boonesborough, Harrodsburg, and elsewhere, in similar 
forts throughout the territory. 

Tlius the settlement of Kentucky was begun, but it was 
not maintained for many years without hardship and loss 



The Greatest of the Pioneers 127 

of life incredible. In thirteen years hundreds of men 
and women were killed by Indians. To their natural 
ferocity and their overwhelming desire to clear the prized 
hunting ground of settlers, there was added the encour- 
agement of the British government, which was entirely 
willing to let loose upon its rebellious subjects the horde 
of savages and as a definite evidence of its desires paid 
liberally for the white man's — or white woman's for that 
matter — scalp. Hamilton, the British Governor of De- 
troit. " the hair-buyer general, " was the prime mover in 
this situation. 

It goes without saying that the colonists were rebels 
to a man, and it is interesting to know that on Tuesday, 
May 23rd, 1775, at the instance of Colonel Henderson, 
President of the Transylvania Company, a representative 
government was established at Boonesborough, Daniel 
Boone being one of the legislators. 

It is characteristic of Boone that in the record of in- 
troduced bills he seems to have originated but two bills, 
one to preserve the game, the other to improve the breed 
of horses. There speaks the Kentucky hunter and 
sportsman ! Both bills were passed, as was another to 
prevent " profane swearing," introduced by the Rev. 
John Lythe, a clergyman of the Church of England, 
who, on Sunday the 28th of May, under the spreading 
branches of a grand old elm, in the words of that most 
ancient liturgy, held the first religious services within the 
state. 

V. Adventures with the Indians 

Boonesborough was twice attacked by bodies of Ind- 
ians, but the war parties were driven ofT with considerable 



128 Border Fights and Fighters 

loss to themselves and but little loss to the garrison. 
The prevalence of war parties often prevented the settlers 
from making a crop and they were forced to live mainly 
by the chase. Boone was easily the best shot and the 
keenest hunter in the settlement. This and other quali- 
ties gave him the practical leadership of all expeditions, 
although the proprietors were sometimes present. 

On Sunday, July 14th, 1776, three young girls, the 
eldest Elizabeth Callaway, aged seventeen, her sister 
Frances, and Jemima Boone, just turned fourteen, rowed 
across the river in a canoe during the absence of Boone 
and Colonel Callaway, another of the fine spirits of the 
period. When they reached the other side the canoe 
grounded on a bar and one of a party of six Indians, who 
had come close to the fort unobserved, seized the bow 
of the boat, dragged it to land, and the girls were capt- 
ured. With the spirit of the pioneer women, Elizabeth 
Callaway attacked the Indians with her canoe paddle and 
severely wounded one of them in the head. The other 
two girls also offered a stout resistance, which of course 
availed nothing. 

The Indians, elated by the capture, which they rightly 
judged to be of importance, hurried their captives away 
from the fort. They strove to get the girls to put on 
moccasins in order that the betraying tracks of their 
shoes should not indicate their route in the pursuit which 
was certain to be made, but Elizabeth Callaway resisted 
so that they were forced to let her have her own way, 
and to trust to the rapidity of their movements to effect 
their escape. 

The girls, by the intrepid Elizabeth's direction, blazed 
their trail by breaking twigs from the trees as they passed, 
and when they were discovered and prohibited, tore their 



The Greatest of the Pioneers 129 

dresses into bits and dropped pieces at intervals. Boone 
and Callaway came back to the fort that evening, when 
the girls were missed. 

Many of the men were still away hunting and it would 
not have been safe to deprive the fort of all means of 
resistance. Two parties were organized at once, com- 
prising some twenty men. Seven of them went with 
Boone, who easily caught the trail of the Indians. 
Among them was young Henderson, son of the proprie- 
tor, who was in love with Elizabeth Callaway, who shortly 
afterward married him, while strangely enough, two of 
the other men in the party afterward married the two 
other girls when they had reached w^hat was then con- 
sidered a suitable age. Women were scarce in Ken- 
tucky and the available ones never lacked for lovers and 
attention. 

Guided by the traces left by the girls, the party pur- 
sued the Indians with furious speed, and came upon them 
encamped in fancied security the second day. How to 
efifect the recapture of the girls without giving the Ind- 
ians time to kill them was something of a problem. 
Boone and Henderson finally crawled as near the camp 
as they dared, and when four of the others fired on the 
unsuspicious Indians, they dashed upon them, placed 
themselves between the girls and the camp and immedi- 
ately opened fire, each shooting his man as he ran. The 
Indians fled precipitately and the girls were saved. In 
the excitement of the little battle, so an ancient account 
says, one of the rescuers, mistaking Elizabeth Callaway, 
who was very dark and sat at the foot of the tree with a 
handkerchief bound around her head, for an Indian, lifted 
his gun butt to beat out her brains before he recognized 
her. 



130 Border Fights and Fighters 

A few weeks after there was a wedding in the stockade 
between the dusky Elizabeth and young Henderson, 
Squire Boone, who is reputed to have been an elder in 
the church, performing the ceremony. This was the first 
marriage solemnized in Kentucky. 

Boone was many times in danger from Indians. In 
1777 his life w^as saved by the famous pioneer Simon 
Kenton. Several men in the fields near Boonesborough, 
attacked by a party of Indians, ran toward the fort, one 
of them being killed and scalped by the way, and their 
cries led Boone to sally out to their relief with thirteen 
men. He charged impetuously upon the Indians and 
was met by a lire from a concealed party. With six of 
his men he was wounded by a bullet, and as he lay on 
the ground one of the Indians attempted to scalp him. 
Kenton shot the Indian dead, lifted Boone in his arms 
and with the rest of his party succeeded in gaining the 
fort. Boone was very taciturn, silent and quiet, as one 
who had spent much time in self-communion in the wil- 
derness. In a few brief, unemotional words, which yet 
meant more than a volume from another man, he thanked 
Kenton for his assistance. 

" Well, Simon, you have behaved yourself like a man 
to-day," he said, " indeed you are a fine fellow." 

On one occasion while out hunting he was captured 
by a party, who bound him with withes and left him on 
the. ground in the care of some squaws, who proceeded 
to get very drunk on the contents of Boone's whiskey 
bottle. It must have been a very large bottle or con- 
tained an unusual quality of whiskey. During the night 
Boone rolled over to the fire, held his hands in the flames 
until the bonds were burned and made his escape, first 
blazing a tree with three deep gashes to mark the place. 



The Greatest of the Pioneers 131 

Years after he found the gashed tree and settled a boun- 
dary dispute by his identification of the landmark. 

While hunting with his brother Edward near the Blue 
Licks, his brother was shot dead and again Boone fled 
for his life. The Indians followed his trail with a dog. 
The hound and the leading savage were close upon him, 
one of them only was at his mercy. He wisely shot the 
dog and escaped. 

The record of his many adventures would fill a volume. 
His longest captivity, however, occurred in January, 
1773. A great need of the colonists was salt. It was 
impracticable to bring it from the seaboard over the 
mountains, and the only w-ay they could get it was by 
boiling the water from the salt springs, or " licks " as 
they were called, from the practice of the wild animals 
in licking the rocks of the ground for the salt with which 
they were impregnated. 

With a party of thirty men Boone was engaged in this 
tedious but very necessary occupation. As usual he left 
the work to his subordinates while he hunted to provide 
game for the party. While hunting he was taken by a 
large party of Indians en route for Boonesborough, 
which they were by this time determined to capture. 
The garrison at Boonesborough, small at best, was great- 
ly weakened by the absence of this party, and as they 
could capture Boone and his companions and then fall 
upon the stockade there would be no doubt but that they 
would take it with the women and children. 

Boone affected to be delighted with his capture. He 
said that he and his companions had left Boonesborough 
for good, that they sympathized with the Indians and 
were quite willing to go along wath them — perhaps here 
he exhibited his British commission. He adroitly warned 



132 Border Fights and Fighters 

them at the same time that Boonesborough was heavily 
re-enforced with Americans, who had in fact driven these 
British sympathizers away. 

The Indians, who easily captured the rest of the party, 
were delighted with their prisoners, who had surrendered 
by Boone's advice; and, moved by his representations, 
abandoned their efforts and returned across the Ohio to 
their own country with their prisoners. Boone's readi- 
ness undoubtedly saved the women and children from the 
horrible fate of the Indian captive. His men were scat- 
tered among the tribes but were in the main well treated, 
and most of them finally escaped after varying periods 
of captivity. 

There seems to have been a singular difference be- 
tween the Indians of that day and place and our modern 
savages. Black Fish, the head chief of the Shawnees, 
and a warrior of no mean prowess, claimed Boone as his 
personal prisoner, and finally adopted him into his family, 
renaming him Big Turtle. Boone was separated from 
his men and taken to Detroit, where Hamilton, to his 
great credit be it said, treated him kindly and even offered 
to buy his freedom from the Indians for one hundred 
pounds. Black Fish was so charmed with his prisoner 
that he refused to part with him for any sum, and indeed 
Boone refused to be bought so far as he had anything 
to say about it, because he did not wish to be under any 
obhgations of that sort to the British, especially as it 
might prevent his escape. 

The Indians left Detroit in the spring and returned 
south to their own country, again taking Boone with 
them. He became a great favorite with all the tribe, and 
as usual was the hunter upon whom they depended. 
They used to count the charges of powder and the niim- 



The Greatest of the Pioneers 133 

ber of balls which he took with him on his hunting 
expeditions and when he returned he had to account for 
every charge and ball. In other words, he had to bring 
back game or bullets. They made no provision for a 
miss, which spoke eloquently of their opinion of his 
marksmanship. But Boone adroitly used only half 
charges of powder and split the bullets, trusting to his 
skill in stalking the game to bring him near enough to 
make a small charge do the work. By degrees he man- 
aged to accumulate a little ammunition this w-ay. 

The Shawnees were very busy at the time and he 
learned, in spite of their efiforts at secrecy, that they were 
mustering in great force for an attack on Boonesbor- 
ough, which they hoped to capture in his absence. Fear- 
fully anxious for his family and others he sought desper- 
ately for means of escape, and finally succeeded in getting 
away on the i6th of June, and in four days he traversed 
the distance between tlie Indian village and Boonesbor- 
ough, over one hundred and fifty miles, during which 
time he only had a single meal. Part of the time he 
was on horseback, it is alleged. He was not a good 
swimmer. When he came to the Ohio he found a de- 
serted canoe on the banks which enabled him to cross 
the wide swift river. When the starved exhausted 
woodsman reached Boonesborough he was received with 
rejoicings as one risen from the dead. His wife, deem- 
ing that he had been killed, had gone back to North Car- 
olina with her children. 



134 Border Fights and Fighters 



VI. The Defence of Boonesborough 

The fort, which had fallen out of repair, was at once 
put in shape for defence when the news that he had 
brought became known. Boone naturally took charge 
of everything. Hoping that he might deter the Indians 
from coming, or stop their advance, while the rest were 
busily engaged in working on the stockade he led a party 
of twenty men to the Scioto River, where he encountered 
a larger force of Indians, defeated them and drove them 
back. But learning that the main body was already en 
route for the fort Boone and his companions retraced 
their steps, succeeded in passing the Indians and reached 
Boonesborough in safety, after a terrific march, just be- 
fore the savages appeared. 

The party entered the fort shortly before sunset, Sun- 
day, September 6th, and that night the Indians appeared 
on the other side of the river and the next morning they 
crossed without opposition and invested the fort. The 
Indians were not alone, however, for they were accom- 
panied by eleven French Canadians under a young cap- 
tain, whose name was Dagniaux de Ouindre, although 
he is usually referred to in the histories as Du Ouesne, 
and one extravagant romancer actually identifies him 
with the family of the great marquis for whom the cele- 
brated fort was named ! The party advanced under the 
French and English flags, strange to say. The real com- 
mander of the expedition, which numbered four hundred 
and forty-four Indians beside the Canadians, was Boone's 
adopted father Black Fish, very much cut up at his 
quondam son's desertion and defection. 

Contrary to their usual practice, instead of at once be- 



The Greatest of the Pioneers 135 

ginning an attack, the Indians through de Quindre pro- 
posed a parley, in which the surrender of the fort was 
demanded under promises of kind treatment and so forth. 
Boone's conduct in his late captivity inspired them with 
the hope that they could effect their end without resist- 
ance. The wily hunter asked for two days to consider, 
which was at once granted by the unsuspecting allies, 
who carried their complaisance so far that when the cattle 
of the settlers, returning in the evening as was their wont, 
presented themselves before the gate the Indians made 
no objection to their entrance. 

Meanwhile the people in the fort, amounting to thirty 
men, twenty boys, and the women and children, worked 
like beavers, strengthening the palisades and getting a 
supply of water from a spring outside. It is a strange 
thing that almost every fort that was erected in Kentucky 
was forced to get its water from some external source. 
At the end of two days, their preparations having been 
completed, Boone calmly informed the Frenchman that 
under no circumstances would he surrender and at the 
same time thanked the besiegers for allowing him time 
to complete his preparations for defence. 

Discomfited by this unlooked-for check to their hopes, 
they did not yet abandon their endeavors for a further 
treaty. Boone was very anxious to gain time. Ex- 
presses had been sent to Virginia and North Carolina 
asking that troops be despatched to aid them and raise 
the siege. The longer he waited the more was the like- 
lihood of their arrival. He therefore consented to a fur- 
ther discussion of the question of surrender. 

The next day was appointed for a council. Nine 
Americans were to meet a party of Indians and Cana- 
dians, all unarmed, outside the walls of the fort. Boone 



136 Border Fights and Fighters 

stationed a number of his best riflemen in the block-house 
nearest the meeting-place with instructions to fire upon 
the Indians should any treachery be manifested. 

The nine Americans, among whom were Boone and 
his brother, secure in this protection, held a grand pow- 
wow with the Canadian and Indian delegates, who were 
present in considerably greater numbers at the treaty 
place between the fort and the Indian encampment. A 
singular treaty of peace, hard to understand from the 
meagre accounts which have come down to us, was pro- 
posed, to which the Americans agreed. After the matter 
had been apparently amicably settled de Ouindre and 
his allies thought that nothing remained to them but to 
take possession of the post; but before they parted they 
proposed that the treaty should be ratified by a general 
handshaking. This request was acceded to by Boone, 
who, to tell the truth, does not seem to have shone as 
a diplomatist. Instead of shaking hands singly two 
Indians at once endeavored to grasp the hands of each 
American, and as soon as the savages seized the pioneers 
they started to drag them toward the Indian camp. 

But they reckoned without their hosts. If Boone was 
little of a negotiator he was much of a fighter. Shout- 
ing to his men he jerked himself free from the two who 
held him and struck out right and left with his fists, in 
the good old Anglo-Saxon style, a way the Indians knew 
nothing of. His example was followed by his compan- 
ions and the whole party ran for the fort pursued by the 
Indians. At the same time the rest of the savages who 
had not attended the council ran from their camp by the 
river bank and opened fire; but a steady and well-di- 
rected fire from the block-house killed a number of the 
pursuers and enabled Boone and his men to reach the 



The Greatest of the Pioneers 137 

gate in safety with no one killed, though Squire Boone 
was severely wounded. 

Concealment and pretence were now at an end. The 
Indians poured a furious fire upon the fort, which was 
returned with deadly effect by the Kentuckians. A ren- 
egade negro slave who had stolen an extra long-range 
rifle amused himself by ascending a tall tree and from 
there picking off the exposed garrison. Boone by an 
extraordinary shot brought him down. 

The Indians besieged the fort for nine days, using 
every stratagem and artifice of which they were capable 
to effect the capture, and finally resorted to the unheard- 
of expedient of attempting to undermine the stockade. 
Their endeavor was detected by the great quantities of 
mud which they threw in the river and Boone at once 
began a countermine. 

Tradition has it that much rude banter was exchanged 
between the combatants. " ' What are you red rascals 
doing there? ' an old hunter would yell in Shawnese 
from the battery to the unseen Indians on the river bank 
below. ' Digging,' would be the return yell. ' Blow 
you all to deveil soon; what you do? ' ' Oh ! ' would be 
the cheerful reply, * we're digging to meet you and in- 
tend to bury five hundred of you.' " 

The little garrison was constantly on the walls, its 
efforts being seconded by those of the women, who 
moulded bullets, loaded rifles, and in many instances even 
joined in the actual fighting, when one face or the other 
was assaulted. On one occasion the Indians set fire to 
the roofs of the cabins with blazing arrows and torches, 
but a fortunate rain which had saturated the logs pre- 
vented the spread of the fires and saved the fort. 

The rain flooded the badly constructed mine the be- 



138 Border Fights and Fighters 

siegers had made, the bank caved in, and their whole 
work was ruined just as they had carried it within striking 
distance of the gate. In utter discouragement they 
raised the siege on the 16th of September and retired, 
having sustained a very heavy loss. Exactly what, how- 
ever, is not known, although the Kentuckians counted 
at least thirty-seven killed outright beside many wound- 
ed. Two of the defenders had been killed and four were 
wounded. 

So furious had been the fire that after the battle they 
picked up one hundred and twenty-seven pounds of lead 
bullets from the ground around the fort, and this takes 
no account of the vast number which had buried them- 
selves harmlessly in the trunks of the trees. The gal- 
lant defence undoubtedly saved the fort from being over- 
whelmed and the settlement wiped out at this juncture. 
Indeed it may be said to have saved Kentucky, and the 
sturdy little band of backwoodsmen desperately defend- 
ing the fort in the wilderness deserve as well of their 
country as the men of Bunker Hill and Valley Forge. 

VII. The Last Battle of the Revolution 

After the repulse of the Indians from Boonesborough 
Boone, who was a major in the county militia, was 
promptly brought to trial before a court-martial, first for 
surrendering at the Salt Licks, and second for the par- 
leying and treaty ing at the fort. He was immediately 
acquitted, being able to show that the motive for his 
actions had been the protection of the settlement and 
had resulted for the best in both cases, and he was at 
once promoted in rank to a lieutenant-colonel. Here- 
after he is invariably styled Colonel Boone. 



The Greatest of the Pioneers 139 

The disastrous repulse of the Indians and the spring- 
ing up of other stations nearer the Ohio combined to 
render Boonesborongh secure from any further attacks. 
The fort was still maintained, but the constantly increas- 
ing number of settlers flowed out of its constricted area 
and built their cabins in its vicinity. Soon a thriving 
town grew up around the battle-scarred enclosure and 
then Boone, who had gone to North Carolina and 
brought his family back to Kentucky, felt it necessary 
to move on. 

Abandoning his land claim, to which, indeed, he found 
through some carelessness he had no complete title, and 
having lost nearly all his movable property by robbery, 
he moved across the Kentucky River and settled in the 
wilderness again at a place which he called Boone's Sta- 
tion, another small frontier fort where he resumed his 
occupation of hunting and trading. 

On the 1 6th of August, 1782, a mounted messenger 
came dashing up to the station, his horse in a lather of 
foam, carrying the news that Bryan's Station, a very im- 
portant point further westward and five miles from the 
present city of Lexington, had been attacked by an over- 
whelming force of Indians and white men, and that the 
place was in desperate straits. Boone himself happened 
to be at Boonesborongh at the time, but the men at the 
station immediately mounted their horses and galloped 
to the succor of their brethren. 

Meanwhile the messenger was despatched to Boone 
and the next day found the old pioneer on the march 
with all the men of the vicinity to the relief of Bryan's 
Station. The siege there had been raised by as desperate 
a defence as was ever exhibited in a frontier fort, when 
the rescuing parties arrived. Messengers had been sent 



I40 Border Fights and Fighters 

in all directions and on the evening of Saturday, August 
17th, pioneers to the number of one hundred and eighty- 
two had assembled at Bryan's Station, and several hun- 
dred men under the command of Colonel Benjamin 
Logan were hourly expected. 

There was a great preponderance of officers among 
the men already at the station, and long and anxious 
were the councils which were held to determine their 
course. It was a principle of border warfare that no 
savage foray should be allowed to go unpunished, al- 
though it was known that the allies, who were com- 
manded by Campbell and McKee, renegades from the 
American cause with the infamous Simon Girty and a 
large party of Wyandottes, among the fiercest warriors 
on the continent, greatly outnumbered the Kentuckians, 
and it was finally determined to pursue them at once, 
without waiting for the advent of Logan. 

Early on the next morning the party, consisting of 
horse and foot under the command of Colonels John 
Todd, Stephen Trigg, and Daniel Boone, set forth. The 
Indians and Canadians had marched very deliberately 
and had taken particular care that their trail should be 
easily followed, even to the extent of blazing it, by gash- 
ing the trees as they passed. This itself was a very seri- 
ous indication, but the backwoodsmen were indifferent 
to odds and the Kentuckians dashed on rapidly, so rapid- 
ly that they marched thirty-three miles the first day. In 
the two days that had elapsed the allies had marched 
thirty-eight miles, so that the two forces encamped for 
the night but five miles from one another. 

The next morning they took up the march again and 
in a short time came to the Licking River, a stream 
easily fordable, at a place called Blue Licks, one of the 



The Greatest of the Pioneers 141 

salt springs which from time immemorial had been the 
haunt of the buffalo and deer. The river here makes a 
loop enclosing a piece of land shaped like a sugar-bowl. 
The trail, a buffalo "trace," led straight across the river 
and up an open ridge, the sides of which w^ere heavily 
timbered, and cut by ravines running at right angles to 
the ridge. It w^as the place where Boone had been capt- 
ured when with the salt party years before. With that 
wonderful topographical instinct which had enabled him 
to find his way in the densest wilderness, every detail 
of the position was fresh in his memory. 

A few Indians were seen on the other side of the river 
upon the ridge. As the Kentuckians approached them 
they leisurely disappeared. A party of scouts was sent 
forward but found nothing. Their inspection must have 
been perfunctory, for the woods and ravines w^ere filled 
with Canadians and Indians in ambush, waiting just such 
an opportunity as this. There was something very sus- 
picious about the whole situation, however, and the place 
was so dangerous that the assemblage was halted while 
a council of war was held. 

Boone, as the most experienced Indian fighter and as 
the man of the highest importance among them, was 
asked for his opinion. He pointed out that the situation 
was grave indeed. He felt certain that the Indians were 
ambushed on the other side of the river, and that the 
Kentuckians should at once select a defensive position 
on their own side and hold it until the arrival of Colonel 
Logan and his men. Only a man of Boone's courage 
could have offered such counsel and their only salvation, 
as it happened, would have been in its acceptance. But 
with all his reputation and powers Boone does not seem 
to have been a leader of men. His prowess was individ- 



142 Border Fights and Fighters 

ual and his reputation likewise, so his counsel was disre- 
garded by the majority and it was determined to attack. 

Boone then proposed that a party should be detached 
to march secretly up the river and fall upon the rear of the 
Indians and Canadians, at a prearranged signal, while the 
main attack was delivered in front. While this dangerous 
proposition was being discussed, — for there was enough 
military talent among the allies to have enabled them to 
overwhelm one detachment before the other arrived, if 
the manoeuvre were detected, which would almost cer- 
tainly happen, — a Major McGary, a man of headlong and 
impetuous valor, but without discretion, disgusted with 
the apparent hesitation of the Kentuckians, and, as he 
states, chafing under the taunt of cowardice which had 
been flung at him the day before when he had suggested 
w^aiting for Logan, suddenly broke up the council, after 
much bickering, by turning his horse to the ford of the 
river and dashing across it shouting, " Let all who are 
not cowards follow me ! " 

It was one of those foolish appeals which always pro- 
duce disaster and the consequences of which are usually 
terrible. Large parties of the men immediately broke 
after McGary and the wiser and older of^cers found 
themselves committed to a course of action entirely at 
variance with their knowledge and experience. McGary 
ought to have been shot by someone before he entered 
the river, but the authority of the officers was of a very in- 
definite character. The men were all equals and they 
obeyed just about as it pleased them, or nearly so. 
There was nothing for Boone, the Todd brothers, Trigg, 
Harlan, and the rest, to do but follow and endeavor to 
restore such order as they could in the mob into which 
their men had degenerated. 



The Greatest of the Pioneers 143 

The force passed the river unmolested, and advanced 
up the broad buffalo trail toward the top of the ridge. 
Some semblance of order was restored as they pro- 
gressed. McGary led the advance party of twenty-five 
men, Trigg took command of the right, Boone of the 
left, and Todd of the centre. Preferring to fight on foot 
a majority of the troops dismounted and left their horses 
on the bank. The bare ridge was about three hundred 
and fifty feet long and the thin attenuated line barely 
covered it. As they approached the top a rifle shot rang 
out, followed by a stunning volley. Of the twenty-five 
men in the advance twenty-three were instantly shot 
down, McGary being one of the two who escaped. Fate 
must have been asleep at that moment, for if ever a man 
deserved death it was he. 

Following the first volley the Canadians appeared in 
force on the ridge, while on either fiank the Indians 
opened a deadly fire from the ravines. The Kentuckians 
stood to their ground manfully and returned the fire, in- 
flicting quite a heavy loss, but in an instant the open was 
black with men. Boone and his men, however, advanced 
gallantly and drove the Indians back on the left, but only 
temporarily. The Indians, especially the Wyandottes, 
were as fearless and as reckless as the Iroquois, and after 
the first volleys they came bursting through the smoke 
tomahawk in hand. 

The Kentuckians with unloaded rifles and knives were 
no match for the Indians with tomahawks, especially 
when outnumbered three to one. Nearly every ofiicer 
of rank was instantly killed. The Indians overwhelmed 
the right wing and extended their lines around that flank, 
the centre then gave back before the tremendous press- 
ure and the advancing left became isolated. In another 



144 Border Fights and Fighters 

moment the Kentuckians would have been entirely sur- 
rounded and a massacre would have ensued. Sauve que 
pent became the order of the day at once. 

The Kentuckians fled pell-mell in wild confusion to 
the river, those mounted galloping madly down the 
bufTalo trail, others seeking to gain their frightened 
horses and escape. Boone, fighting desperately with 
knife and clubbed rifle in defence of his life, his horse 
having been killed, found himself far in advance of his 
line, cut ofT by the Indians who had gathered between 
him and the river. His son Isaac, a private in his com- 
pany, lay dying at his feet. 

Seizing the boy in his arms with superhuman strength 
he burst through the encircling foemen and by his 
knowledge of the place gained shelter in a ravine through 
which, still carrying the wounded lad, he made for the 
river. Although he had escaped observation for the 
moment his discovery was certain. The Indians and 
Canadians were ranging the woods and butchering 
everybody they came across. The helpless wounded 
upon the field were immediately killed. As it chanced, 
the poor boy died in his father's arms and Boone put 
his body in a sheltered recess in the rocks and finally 
succeeded in escaping across the river. 

Major Netherland, who was better mounted than the 
others, gained the opposite bank of the river. With cool 
hardihood he stopped every man who came across until 
he had gathered quite a party about him. Charging 
their rifles they waited until the main battle came roll- 
ing toward the stream. The Kentuckians in advance 
plunged into the water, the Indians close after them. 
Netherland's force by steady firing checked the pursuit 
at the bank of the river until their exhausted comrades 



The Greatest of the Pioneers 145 

got over, when they immediately scattered in the woods. 
The Indians attempted little or no pursuit on the other 
side of the river. 

Sixty-seven Kentuckians were killed outright or were 
murdered on the field after the battle. Seven were capt- 
ured, of whom four died by torture, and many of those 
who escaped were wounded in some way or other. 

Half way to Bryan's Station the fugitives met Colonel 
Logan with four hundred men coming to their support. 
In the face of this disastrous defeat, in which over forty 
per cent, had been lost, and ignorant of the number of 
the allies, which rumor had magnified to an extraordi- 
nary degree, Logan deemed it prudent to retire to 
Bryan's Station. 

The return of the defeated brought desolation and 
sorrow to the whole territory. A few days after the 
battle the army, greatly re-enforced, marched out to the 
battle-field, which was, it may be imagined, a scene of 
horror. The Indians had carried away their dead, the 
Canadians had buried theirs, and their loss was never 
certain. Compared to that of the Kentuckians, how- 
ever, it was inconsiderable. Logan and Boone buried 
the dead on the field, covering their remains with a huge 
mound of stones. 

What must have been the thoughts of the old pioneer 
whose advice, if they had taken it, might have prevented 
this fearful slaughter! He had lost his brother, two of 
his brothers-in-law, and two of his sons in battles with 
the Indians. Certainly he had paid a heavy price for his 
part in the settlement of Kentucky! 

He accompanied George Rogers Clark in the expedi- 
tion which was organized after the battle of the Blue 
Licks, which devastated the Indian country, and did 



146 Border Fights and Fighters 

good service there. But the Indians came no more to 
Kentucky. The treaty of peace which closed the Revo- 
lution deprived them of their British backing, and left 
the United States free to deal with them, and it is a nota- 
ble fact that this sanguinary and disastrous engagement 
was the last battle of the Revolution. The contest which 
began at Lexington, Massachusetts, ended at the Blue 
Licks, Kentucky, a place that had never been dreamed 
of when Pitcairn shot down the minute men, so rapid 
even under adverse circumstances had been the growth 
and expansion of our country. 

VIIL The End of the Old Pioneer 

After the war Boone's carelessness in complying with 
the legal requirements caused him to be dispossessed 
of his second attempt at land claim, and in 1795 he re- 
moved to Missouri, then a part of the Spanish territory 
of Louisiana. Here, with his children and grandchildren 
around him, he passed the remainder of his days, his pas- 
sion for hunting existing to the very last. Long past 
the age of threescore and ten the old hunter and pioneer 
made excursion after excursion through that yet unex- 
plored west which still rose before him with all the allure- 
ments that it held in the days of his youth. There, in 
1813, his faithful wife died. She liad been a helpmeet 
to him indeed. 

" A dirge for the brave old pioneer! 

A dirge for his old spouse! 
For her who blest his forest cheer 

And kept his birchen house. 
Now soundly by her chieftain may 

The brave old dame sleep on. 
The red man's step is far away. 

The wolf's dread howl is gone." 



The Greatest of the Pioneers 147 

When Louisiana passed to the United States Boone 
again found that he had neglected to secure his land title 
from the Spanish government and was again dispossessed 
of his claim, so that he who had spent his lifetime in dis- 
covering, acquiring, protecting, the vast territory of the 
United States west of the Alleghenies, found himself at 
last without a rood of ground to call his own. In his 
extremity he appealed to the legislature of Kentucky, 
and at their urgency the government of the United States 
through Congress granted him a tract of land in Mis- 
souri, where he died on the 23rd of September, 1820, in 
the eighty-sixth year of his age. 

As was fitting and proper, his remains with those of 
his wife were brought back in 1845 to rest in the soil 
of Kentucky, which justly cherishes his memory as one 
of the fathers of the commonwealth. Not often has 
there been in our history so admired and beloved a 
pioneer. He stands for a class which has vanished, and 
which circumstances will never permit to reappear, but 
a class which performed great services in the develop- 
ment of this country, and which will always be held in 
grateful remembrance. The hunting shirt and the axe, 
the long rifle and the powder horn, the handful of parched 
corn, and the coon-skin cap, these should be incorporated 
in our escutcheon, for these were the means by which 
was won to us that great country between the Alleghe- 
nies and the Mississippi. 



Part III 
KENTUCKY 

II 

The Women and Children of Bryan's Station 



THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN OF 
BRYAN'S STATION 

I. The Wives of the Pioneers 

IN discussing Border Fights and Fighters, the battles, 
sieges, and adventures whereby was brought about 
that great winning of the west justly so celebrated 
in song and story, the attention of the historian is usually 
given particularly to the men, and well it may be. But 
in many instances the women played as brave a part as 
their husbands or fathers, and the chronicles and tradi- 
tions of the rude times teem with thrilling instances of 
sturdy courage and heroic daring on the part of the femi- 
nine pioneers. Generally speaking, the wives of the 
frontiersmen indeed showed themselves worthy help- 
mates to their cool and adventurous husbands. If some 
of the things that these women did were set down for 
modern delectation they would be regarded as utterly 
incredible, and the most exuberant imagination of the 
most daring dime novelist of other days could scarcely 
match the truth. 

For instance, in 1787, there was Mrs. John Merrill of 
Nelson County, Kentucky, who, when her husband des- 
perately wounded staggered into his cabin and fell on the 
floor at her feet, succeeded in shutting and barring the 
door upon the assaulting Indians, and when they broke 
into the house through a shivered plank of the door, 
killed four of them in succession with an axe — the axe, 

151 



152 Border Fights and Fighters 

strange to say, being the favorite weapon of the women, 
as the rifle was that of the men ! And when the savages 
gave over that attempt and tried to enter by the chimney, 
with ready wit she emptied her feather bed on the flames 
and smoked them away, keeping them at bay till help 
came and her loved ones were saved. 

Then there was Elizabeth Zane, a young miss just 
come from boarding school in Philadelphia to her father's 
house on the frontier in 1777. The people of the settle- 
ment being besieged by Indians and rangers under Girty, 
in Fort Henry, where Wheeling now stands in West 
Virginia, suddenly found themselves without powder and 
facing certain capture. Not a man could be spared from 
the weakened garrison which had already lost over half 
its members, but the brave girl volunteered to run to 
an outlying cabin, her father's, and bring back thence a 
keg of powder which had been left there. She succeed- 
ed in her desperate undertaking in spite of a heavy fire 
poured upon her by the Indians, delivered the powder 
to the garrison, and saved the fort ! * 

I recall the story of two other women who held their 
cabin against an overwhelming force, the husbands of 
the two weltering in gore upon the floor — one dead, the 
other dying, in fact. The Indians repeatedly tried to set 
the cabin on fire and the women put out the flames again 
and again, first with their scanty supply of water, and 
when that was exhausted, by the use of raw eggs, and 
when the store of these in turn was gone, with the blood- 
stained garments of their husbands, saving their children 
and themselves from a fate too horrible to dwell upon. 
And there are hundreds of similar instances that might 
be mentioned. 

* See my book Woven with the Ship : Saved by Her Slipper. 



The Women of Bryan's Station ^S3 

But the women of Bryan's Station exhibited a greater 
degree of heroism than perhaps any other body of women 
in the new settlement of Kentucky. Bryan's Station was 
situated about five miles north of the present city of Lex- 
ington. It was originally founded by the Bryan brothers, 
their families and friends. One of these brothers had 
married a sister of the famous Daniel Boone, as had an- 
other of the settlers, and both men lost their hves in 
Indian conflicts. Boone's wife, by the way, was a sister 
of these Bryans. 

II. An Old-Time Frontier Fort 

The station was a rude log fort enclosing about forty 
cabins. It was about six hundred feet long, two hun- 
dred feet wide and twelve feet high. The cabins were 
placed at intervals around this parallelogram, and the 
spaces between filled with a heavy palisade, the outer 
walls of the cabins, with the palisades, composing the 
walls of the fort. There were two entrances closed with 
two heavy wooden gates. In each corner a two-story 
block-house was built which projected four feet beyond 
the walls, giving the defenders an enfilading fire. The 
roofs of the cabins sloped inward from the edge of the 
palisades, or outer walls, so that a small person crouching 
upon the inner edge of the roof would not be visible 
from outside of the stockade. 

Like almost every other frontier fort in Kentucky 
there was no water in the enclosure, a terrible mistake, 
but accounted for by the fact that the springs were gen- 
erally on low ground not suitable for defensive works — 
still they might have dug wells in the forts, but the fact 
remains they rarely did. A short distance from the 



154 Border Fights and Fighters 

northeast corner of the fort there was a bountiful spring 
from which the garrison could get water when there was 
nobody there to prevent. 

There had been terrible doings on the frontier during 
the spring and summer of 1782. The British and Indians 
had made raid after raid through the land. Two years 
before a certain Colonel William Byrd of Westover, Vir- 
ginia, a Tory, who seems to have been a gentleman and 
a soldier, led some eight hundred Indians with a detach- 
ment of soldiers and some artillery into Kentucky. None 
of the forts was proof against artillery, nor was there any 
in the territory except that in the possession of George 
Rogers Clark, which was not available. Two stations, 
Martin's and Ruddle's, were attacked in succession and 
easily captured. Their garrisons and inhabitants were 
murdered and tortured with shocking barbarity. It is 
to the eternal credit of Colonel Byrd, that, finding him- 
self unable to control the Indians, he abandoned his ex- 
pedition and withdrew, otherwise the whole land would 
have been desolated. The bulk of the invading Indians 
were Wyandottes, who were easily first among the sav- 
ages of the northwest for ferocious valor and military 
skill. The opposing forces being exactly equal, a de- 
tachment of them defeated a certain Captain Estill by a 
series of brilliant military manoeuvres which would have 
done credit to a great captain, being indeed upon a small 
scale Napoleonic in their conception and execution. 

Two years after Byrd had withdrawn, William Camp- 
bell and Alexander McKee, notorious renegades, with 
the infamous Simon Girty, whose name has been a hiss- 
ing and byword ever since he lived, led a formidable war 
party consisting of a few Canadians and four hundred 
Indians into Kentucky. The first place they attacked 



The Women of Bryan's Station 155 

was Bryan's Station. Another place called Hoy's Sta- 
tion was menaced by a different party of Indians and 
express messengers had ridden to Bryan's Station to 
seek aid, which the settlers were ready to grant. 

The American party was being made up to go to 
Hoy's Station early in the morning of the i6th of Au- 
gust, 1782, when as they approached the gate to ride 
out of it, a party of Indians was discovered on the edge 
of the woods in full view. The party was small in num- 
ber, comparatively speaking, yet its members exposed 
themselves, out of rifle range, of course, with such care- 
less indifference to consequences, or to a possible attack, 
as inevitably to suggest to the mind of Captain John 
Craig, who commanded the fort at the time, that they 
were desirous of attracting the attention of the garrison 
in the hope that their small numbers might induce the 
men of the station to leave the fort and pursue them. 

Craig was an old Indian fighter who had been trained 
in Daniel Boone's own school. He was suspicious of 
any manoeuvre of that kind. Checking the departure of 
the relief party, he called his brother and the principal 
men of the station into a council and they concluded at 
once that the demonstration in the front of the fort was 
a mere feint, that the Indians were anxious to be pur- 
sued and that the main attack would come from the 
other direction. 

III. Ruse Against Ruse 

The surmise was correct. With cunning adroitness 
Campbell had massed the main body of his forces in the 
woods back of the fort with strict instructions for them 
to remain concealed and not show themselves on any 



156 Border Fights and Fighters 

account until they heard the fire coming from the front 
of the station, which would convince them that their ruse 
had succeeded. Then they were to break from cover 
and rush for the back wall of the fort, which they sup- 
posed would be undefended, scale it, and have the little 
garrison at their mercy. It so happened that the spring, 
referred to above, from which the fort got its water sup- 
ply, lay within a short distance of the main body con- 
cealed in the thick woods which surrounded the clearing 
with the fort in the centre. The situation was perfectly 
plain to Craig and his men. They determined to meet 
ruse with ruse and if possible defeat the Indians at their 
own game. 

Before they could do anything, however, they must 
have a supply of water. On that hot August day life in 
that stockade, especially when engaged in furious bat- 
tle would become unsupportable without water. Only 
the ordinary amount sufficient for the night had been 
brought in the day before. The receptacles were now 
empty. After swift deliberations the commandant turned 
to the women and children crowded around the officers, 
and explained the situation plainly to them. He pro- 
posed that the women, and children who were large 
enough to carry water, should go down to the spring 
with every vessel they could carry and bring back the 
water upon which their lives depended. He also ex- 
plained to them that the spring was probably covered 
by concealed masses of the enemy who were waiting for 
the success of the demonstration in front of the fort to 
begin the attack. 

He said further, that it was the opinion of those in 
command, that if the women would go to the spring 
as they did under ordinary circumstances, as was their 



The Women of Bryan's Station 157 

custom every morning that is, the Indians would not 
molest them, not being desirous of breaking up the plan 
by which they hoped to take the fort and have every- 
thing at their mercy. The men in the fort would cover 
the women with their rifles so far as they could. It 
would be impossible for them to go and get water; 
as it was not the habit of the men to do that, the unusual 
proceeding would awaken the suspicions of the Indians 
and the men would be shot down and the fort and all its 
inmates would be at the mercy of the savages. 

Every woman there was able to see the situation. 
The theory upon which they were proceeding might be 
all wrong. The Indians might be satisfied with the cer- 
tainty of capturing the women thus presented, and the 
women and children might be taken away under the very 
eyes of the helpless men. On the other hand, it was 
probable, though by no means certain, that Craig's 
reasoning was correct and that the Indians would not 
discover themselves and the women and children would 
be allowed to return unmolested. Still nobody could 
tell what the Indians would do and the situation was a 
terrible one. Capture at the very best meant death by 
torture. The women in the fort had not lived on the 
frontier in vain. They realized the dilemma instantly. 
A shudder of terror and apprehension went through the 
crowd. What would they do? They must have the 
water; the men could not get it, the women did! 

Mrs. Jemima Suggett Johnson, the wife of an intrepid 
pioneer and the daughter and sister of others, instantly 
volunteered for the task. She was the mother of five 
little children and her husband happened to be away in 
Virginia at the time. Leaving her two little boys and 
her daughter Sally to look after the baby in his dug-out 



15^ Border Fights and Fighters 

cradle, she offered to go for the water. This baby was 
that Richard Mentor Johnson, who afterward became 
so celebrated at the battle of the Thames where Tecum- 
seh was killed, and who was subsequently Vice-President 
of the United States. 

Taking her little daughter Betsy, aged ten, her eldest 
child, by the hand, the fearless woman headed a little 
band of twelve women and sixteen children, who had 
agreed to follow where she led; among them were the 
wives and children of the Craig brothers. The little 
ones carried wooden piggins, and the women noggins 
and buckets. The piggin was a small bucket with one 
upright stave for a handle — a large wooden dipper as it 
were — while the larger noggin had two upright staves 
for handles. 

Carefully avoiding any suspicious demonstration of 
force on the part of his men, Captain Craig opened the 
gate and the women marched out. Chatting and laugh- 
ing in spite of the fact that they were nearly perishing 
from apprehension and terror, they tramped down the 
hill to the spring near the creek some sixty yards away, 
with as much coolness and indifference as they could 
muster. It was indeed a fearful moment for the women, 
and no wonder that some of the younger ones and the 
older children found it difficult to control their agitation; 
but the composed manner of those valiant and heroic 
matrons like Mrs. Johnson somewhat reassured the oth- 
ers and completely deluded the Indians. Probably the 
younger children did not realize their frightful danger 
and their unconsciousness helped to deceive the foes in 
ambush. 

It took some time to fill the various receptacles from 
the small spring, but, by the direction of Mrs. Johnson. 



The Women of Bryan's Station 159 

no one left the vicinity until all were ready to return. 
This little party then marched deliberately back to the 
fort as they had come. Not a shot was fired. The Ind- 
ians concealed within a stone's throw in the underbrush 
had looked at them with covetous eyes, but such was 
the unwonted discipline in which they were held that 
they refrained from betraying themselves, in the hope 
of afterward carrying out their stratagem. As they 
neared the gate some of the younger ones broke into a 
run crowding into the door of the stockade which never 
looked so hospitable as on that sunny summer morning, 
and some of the precious water was spilled, but most of 
of it was carried safe into the enclosure. 

With what feelings of relief the fifty-odd men in the 
station saw their wives and children come back again 
can scarcely be imagined. Despatching two daring men 
on horseback to break through the besiegers and rouse 
the country, Craig immediately laid a trap for the Ind- 
ians. Selecting a small body he sent them out to the 
front of the fort to engage the Indians there, instructing 
them to make as much noise and confusion as possible. 
Then he posted the main body of his men at the loop- 
holes back of the fort, instructing them not to make a 
move, nor fire a gun, until he gave the order. 

The ruse was completely successful. Deceived by the 
hullabaloo in front the Indians in the rear, imagining 
that their plan had succeeded, broke from cover and in- 
stantly dashed up to the stockade, shouting their war 
cries, and expecting an easy victory. What was their 
surprise to find it suddenly bristling with rifles as Craig 
and his men poured a steady withering fire into the mass 
crowded before them, fairly decimating them. They ran 
back instantly, and concealment being at an end, re- 



i6o Border Fights and Fighters 

turned the fire ineffectually. Immediately thereafter 
from every side a furious fire from four hundred rifles 
burst upon the defenders. All day long the siege was 
maintained. Once in awhile a bullet ploughing through 
a crevice in the stockade struck down one of the brave 
garrison, but the casualties in the station were very few. 

On the other hand, when an Indian exposed himself 
he was sure to be killed by a shot from some unerring 
rifle. One or two Indians climbed a tree seeking to 
command the fort therefrom, but they were quickly de- 
tected and shot before they had time to descend. At 
last they attempted to burn the fort by shooting flaming 
arrows up in the air to fall perpendicularly upon the 
buildings. The children, the little boys, that is, and 
some of the older girls, were lifted up on the inclined 
roofs, where they were safe from direct rifle fire, though 
in imminent danger of being pierced by the dropping 
arrows, with instructions to put out the fires as fast as 
the arrows kindled them, which they succeeded in doing. 
Meanwhile, the women were busy moulding bullets and 
loading rifles for the men, and many of them took their 
places on the walls and aided in the defence. 

" The mothers of our forest land, 

Their bosoms pillowed men; 
And proud were they by such to stand 

In hammock, fort, or glen; 
To load the sure old riHe, 

To run the leaden ball. 
To watch a battling husband's place, 

And -fill it should he fall." 

Finding their efforts unavailing the Indians ravaged 
the surrounding country. They killed all the cattle be- 
longing to the pioneers, burned and destroyed the fields 



The Women of Bryan's Station i6i 

of grain, and turned the environment into a bloody 
desert. In the afternoon a succoring party from Boone's 
Station appeared, but without Boone, for he was absent 
at the time, and succeeded in entering the fort. The 
new-comers included some sixteen horsemen with thirty 
footmen from the Lexington Station. 

The horsemen approached unobserved and deliberate- 
ly dashed through the Indian lines. The suddenness of 
their onset and the great cloud of dust raised by their 
horses disconcerted the Indians and they succeeded in 
breaking through without the loss of a single man, al- 
though they were shot at by numbers of savages. 

The footmen, however, who were some distance away, 
hearing the noise of the horsemen's battle, disobeyed 
orders through friendly gallantry, and instead of endeav- 
oring to gain the fort turned aside with the intention of 
succoring the horsemen who had already rushed through. 
They found themselves in a corn-field, confronted by an 
overwhelming body of Indians, and incontinently ran. 

Fortunately for the hunters these Indians had just dis- 
charged their pieces at the horsemen and there had not 
been time to reload. The rifles of the Kentuckians were 
still charged, and even the most implacable savage hesi- 
tated to attack a loaded rifle with a tomahawk. 

Keeping the Indians back by threatening them, the 
footmen gave over the attempt to reach the fort and suc- 
ceeded, with the exception of six killed, in escaping. 
These Kentuckians did not fire until they had to, and 
every time they did they brought down a man. The 
Indians pursued them for some distance, but as Bryan's 
Station was their object the pursuit was soon abandoned. 
The fugitives scattered in every direction rousing the 
country. 
II 



i62 Border Fights and Fighters 

Meanwhile the battle around the station still kept up. 
Toward evening, however, the Indians having sustained 
severe loss, and seeing no prospect of capturing the 
place, which was as stoutly defended as ever, reluctantly 
determined to raise the siege and withdraw. Before 
they did so Simon Girty resolved to try what he could 
effect with persuasion. Cautiously advancing toward 
the fort and taking cover behind a huge sycamore tree, 
he held a parley. Declaiming his name and position, 
he advised the garrison to surrender at once, promising 
immunity and kind treatment on the part of Hamilton, 
the British commander at Detroit. His faith was better 
than Girty's, but that of both of them amounted to 
nothing. 

Girty told the garrison that the beleaguering force 
would be supplemented on the following day by artillery, 
and if the station did not immediately surrender it would 
receive the fate which had been meted out to Martin's 
and Ruddle's Stations. The address was listened to in 
gloomy silence. Everybody knew what had happened 
at those two stations, and small wonder that many a heart 
sank at the prospect. 

There happened to be in the fort, however, a young 
man named Reynolds, a reckless dare-devil sort of a fel- 
low, who took upon himself without authority the an- 
swering of Girty. He told him that he knew perfectly 
well who he was, that he knew his character, also; that he 
had a little dog that was so utterly worthless that he had 
named him Simon Girty, because he could think of no 
other name so beautifully appropriate; that he didn't be- 
lieve they had any cannon, and that if they would just wait 
outside the fort until the next day they would have the 
whole of Kentucky upon them, and if they knew what 
they were about they would get away in short order ! 



The Women of Bryan's Station 163 

Girty retired in great discomfiture, followed by the 
laughter of the Kentuckians, and greeted by the sneers 
of the Indians. It was a long and anxious night they 
spent in the fort thereafter, the defenders keeping on the 
alert for any demonstration, but in the morning the Ind- 
ians were gone. They had decamped as silently as they 
had approached, the siege was raised, the battle was over. 
They had taken Reynolds' advice. 

All day eager settlers from every direction poured 
into the settlement, and in their hot desire to punish 
these Indians they sallied out soon after with an inade- 
quate force and, as we have seen, were badly defeated 
by Campbell and his allies at the disastrous battle of 
Blue Licks. 

IV. The Story of the Morgans 

One further romantic incident of the siege is worthy 
of mention. A man named Morgan had settled with his 
wife and child in a cabin outside the fort. When the 
Indians appeared, he concealed his wife in a recess be- 
neath the slab floor of his cabin, I surmise perhaps be- 
cause she was ill and it was impossible for her to escape. 
At any rate, thinking he had left her in a place of safety 
he took his baby in one hand, grasped his rifle in the 
other, and broke through the Indians and gained the 
forest. 

Unfortunately the Indians burned the house, while he 
looked helplessly on from his place of concealment with 
his anguish intensified by his utter inability to do any- 
thing at all. The Indians discovered him after a time, 
and he had a desperate struggle to get away. He 
reached Lexington at last, left the baby there, and at 
once joined the relief party which fought the Indians in 
the corn-field. 



164 Border Fights and Fighters 

When the siege was raised the frantic man searching 
among the embers found the charred remains of a human 
body. Crazed by his loss he was among the first to 
cross the river and engage the Indians at the battle of 
Blue Licks. Recognizing a portion of his wife's cloth- 
ing worn by an Indian, he killed him in a hand-to-hand 
struggle, but he was shot and frightfully wounded. Re- 
taining strength enough to crawl away from the battle- 
field he concealed himself in the wood, lying down to die. 
There he was found by his wife, who had been taken 
prisoner and had escaped in the confusion of the battle. 
She dragged him into a further place of concealment, 
cared for him as best she could, and when the Indians 
departed after the battle she contrived to get him back 
to the fort in safety. 

The bones he had found in the ashes of the cabin were 
those of a wounded Indian, who had crawled in there 
and died. The Indians had set fire to the house and the 
woman had been forced to discover herself. The sav- 
ages had not had time to torture her, and so the family 
was united once more. 

The men, of course, conducted themselves heroically in 
the siege, but the honor of the defence which they were 
enabled to make certainly rests with those pioneer 
mothers and daughters of Kentucky. A monument 
around the spring, the tribute of the Daughters of the 
American Revolution, one of the few that have been 
erected to women, serves to commemorate their heroic 
self-sacrifice and valor, for it takes more courage to go 
to a spring and get water in the face of four hundred 
Indian rifles pointing at you from out of a dark wood, 
than it does to stand behind a wall and fight all day 
long. 



Part IV 
THE FAR SOUTH 

I 

The Massacre at Fort Mims 



THE MASSACRE AT FORT MIMS 

I. The Beginning of the Creek War 

ON the evening of Tuesday, the 31st of August, 
181 3, a Httle canoe floated ashore near Fort 
Stoddardt, Alabama, a rude frontier stockade on 
the west bank of the Mobile River, some twenty-five 
miles above the city of that name. In the bottom of the 
canoe lay an exhausted, half-delirious negro woman, a 
slave, whose only name was Hester. She was suffering 
from a huge, ghastly bullet wound in her breast. Lifted 
by tender hands from the bloody canoe, in which she was 
prostrated, she was carried into the fort and questioned 
by the commander. 

She told a tale of massacre and destruction which 
froze the blood of the listeners. She believed herself to 
be the sole survivor of the garrison, and the people who 
had collected at Fort Mims, on Lake Tensaw, some 
twenty miles further up the river, just below the " cut- 
off," or the confluence of the Alabama and the Tombig- 
bee, which thereafter make the Mobile River. The story 
they heard from the lips of the wretched woman, who had 
managed, she knew not how, to conceal herself till night- 
fall in the cane brake and then escape in the boat in which 
they found her, was one of the most appalling recitals of 
savage fury that has ever been told in any of our Indian 
wars. 

The great Tecumseh, in the previous year, had suc- 

167 



1 68 Border Fights and Fighters 

ceeded in engaging the major portion of the powerful 
Creek nation in behalf of his Confederacy. The Creeks 
were the most notable of the southern Indians. For 
enterprise and valor, for progress in a rude sort of civili- 
zation, for the development of an organization which pos- 
sessed some of the properties of government, they were 
only to be compared with the Iroquois, or Six Nations, 
in the north. 

Those who know the red man only through touch 
with the modern Indian of the plains are accustomed to 
sneer at the conception of him which is exploited, let us 
say, in Cooper's novels; but the Creeks and the Iroquois 
were very different from the modern Indian, and Coop- 
er's pictures, so far as these two peoples are concerned, 
do no violence to the facts. The Creeks were, however, 
as ruthlessly cruel and bloodthirsty in warfare as, for in- 
stance, Geronimo and his Mescalero Apaches. The men 
v^ere tall, magnificent specimens, and some of the women 
are said to have been beautiful; I think, however, that 
could only be by comparison with other Indian squaws. 
The Creek Nation numbered some thirty thousand, of 
whom at least seven thousand were approved warriors. 
Among them were many half-breeds, who inclined either 
to civilization or savagery, as the case might be, and 
exhibited the traits of the white man or those of the 
Indian, according to their rearing and environment. 

There was a division in the tribe as to joining the 
conspiracy of Tecumseh, and the smouldering embers of 
a civil war were beginning to glow among them, when 
the War of 1812 broke out. Such an auxiliary for the 
British to work with, in conjunction with the Spanish 
authorities in Florida, was not to be despised. Supplied 
with English guns and incited by British rewards offered 



The Massacre at Fort Mims 169 

for scalps, even of women and children, the great body 
of Creeks declared for war, although some remained 
friendly to the Americans. The half-breeds, or men of 
mixed blood, were divided between the two sides. The 
principal war chief of the Indians was a half-breed 
named Weatherford, who w^as called in the Creek lan- 
guage, " The Red Warrior." 

After a skirmish at a place called Burnt Corn, which 
resulted in the defeat of the settlers, the alarm spread all 
over Alabama and the frightened inhabitants, including 
those half-breeds who were, to all intents and purposes, 
Americans, gathered for protection in the little forts and 
stockades v/hich dotted the country on every hand. 

There had lived for many years in Alabama, near 
Lake Tensaw, a wealthy half-breed named Samuel Mims. 
His house was a large and substantial wooden structure 
of one stor}^ with several outbuildings. It was situated 
some little distance from the water, on low, sandy ground 
surrounded by woods, marshes and swamps, which on 
the east were traversed by several ravines overgrown 
with cane brakes. The house was surrounded by a low 
stockade, made by driving parallel rows of open stakes at 
suitable intervals, the spaces between being filled with 
loosely piled fence-rails. At three and a half feet from 
the ground five hundred loop-holes were pierced. The 
stockade was seventy yards square and enclosed an acre 
of ground. On the southwest corner on a slight rise a 
block-house was begun but never completed. There 
were two large gates in the centre of the east and west 
faces. From the north and south faces projected small 
square enclosures called bastions, made of the same 
pickets. 

Thither at once resorted all the inhabitants of the 



lyo Border Fights and Fighters 

vicinage, and many small houses were built in the enclos- 
ure to shelter them. To them in the latter part of July, 
General Claiborne, the United States military com- 
mander of the territory, sent one hundred and seventy- 
five volunteers, commanded by Major Daniel Beasley, 



I 



I Blockhouse. 
i. Picket! cut awiy bj/ Indi&ns 

5 Cudfd's StAtiof). 
t CiiaKd Mouse, 
s Westerrt Gate. 

6 Gite cut thoujh by Indians. 
7. Capt-B&ileii'sHouse. 
aStcadhams House. 
9. Dyfif's House. 
JO Kitchen. 

II Mini's House. 
12. Randorv's House. 
/3 Old Gateway Open. 
11 Ens^nC/iAmbiissTCnt. 
(rRandon'j " 
« Cdpc.Miaoietorv's » 
17Capt. Jack's 
13 PokC holes bAxenb^ Indlant. 

19-zo 

21 Capt Jack's Comyonv) . 
<L^ Maj.Beasiey's Cabin. 

£} Capt.Miaaieton'j Company, 
^V- Eastern Gate Left Open, &nd whefC 
Beasley f-ell. 




— ^AAA^A — - 






A a" A A I 



Plan of Fort Mims. 

with Captains Jack, Middleton, and Batcheldor. Major 
Beasley found a lieutenant and sixteen soldiers in the fort 
and some seventy other men who were organized into a 
battalion, and one Dixon Bailey was elected their captain. 
Most of the soldiers were full-blooded whites, al- 



The Massacre at Fort Mims 171 

though some of the settlers were of mixed blood. Bailey 
himself was a half-breed. There were nearly six hun- 
dred people in the enclosure now, which was too small 
to contain so great a number with comfort or safety, and 
Beasley erected a second stockade some sixty feet beyond 
the east wall with which it was connected on either side, 
forming an outer enclosure, in which he stationed the 
bulk of his troops. 

II. Careless Defenders 

General Claiborne visited the place soon after and 
charged the defenders straitly to complete the block- 
house and strengthen the palisades. At first they worked 
heartily enough, and kept a fairly vigilant watch, but so 
many false alarms were brought to them that they grew 
careless and indifferent at last. Beasley was a poor com- 
mander, though a brave man. He presently allowed the 
work to languish. The block-house was never com- 
pleted, and latterly, except at night, they kept no watch. 
He also imprudently weakened his command by sending 
away small detachments to garrison other points. 

The summer was very hot. Many of the people 
crowded together in that low, marshy ground became ill. 
On the 29th of August two negroes who had been herd- 
ing cattle came rushing back to the fort in terror, exclaim- 
ing that they had seen a large body of Indians. The fool- 
ish Beasley, declined to credit their tale, and, angry at 
the commotion and alarm their news had created, actually 
ordered them to be flogged! 

The owner of one of the negroes, a certain Fletcher, 
refused to allow his man to be whipped, but the owner of 
the other, making no objection, the unfortunate negro 



172 Border Fights and Fighters 

was tied to a stake and soundly lashed. Beasley 
shortly informed Fletcher that he must either allow his 
slave to be flogged, or leave the fort with his large family 
the next morning. The alternative was not to be thought 
of. After considering it all night Fletcher reluctantly 
gave his consent just before noon on Monday, August 
30th, 1813, and the negro was accordingly triced up to a 
post preparatory to receiving a lashing. 

Meanwhile the first negro had been sent out again 
that morning to herd the stock as usual, and had again 
discovered unmistakable signs of Indians. Mindful of 
his bitter experience of the day before, however, he fled 
to Fort Pierce, a stockade some miles above Fort Mims, 
to which he naturally feared to return. Beasley had sent 
out Captain Middleton to scout before he had flogged the 
negro on the preceding afternoon, and that officer had 
promptly returned and reported that he had found noth- 
ing. 

The morning was hot, close and sultry, and the long 
hours slowly dragged along. The soldiers lounged in 
their tents, some of them playing cards, or amusing 
themselves according to their fancy; the company cooks 
and the housewives were preparing the midday meal 
throughout the enclosure, while over one hundred little 
children disported themselves in the open places. Five 
hundred and fifty-three persons were in the fort at the 
time, of whom probably two hundred and twenty-five 
were soldiers, two hundred women and children and old 
men and the balance negro slaves. 



The Massacre at Fort Mims 173 



III. Paying the Awful Penalty 

Beasley had just despatched a letter (still extant) to 
General Claiborne, in response to that officer's repeated 
cautions, stating that the fort was absolutely safe, and he 
was to give himself no concern whatever about it, as the 
garrison could hold it against all the Creeks in the nation. 
By some miracle the messenger reached the general and 
delivered the letter after all was over. At the time he 
was writing a great body of a thousand Indians, a small 
portion of whom the two negroes had seen and reported, 
had actually surrounded the fort unperceived. They lay 
hid in the forests, or concealed in the canebrakes, al- 
though the most of them were crouching beneath the 
brush in the nearest ravine in front of the east gate, to 
reach which they would be compelled to pass over an 
open field. 

Beasley was standing in the door of his own house in 
the outer enclosure when the drums beat the noonday 
mess call. That was the prearranged signal for attack. 
Instantly the open field was covered with a mass of " Red 
Sticks," the name given to the Creek warriors from the 
red clubs they always carried in battle. These, however, 
were armed with the best modern muskets as well. Silent 
as death, they dashed rapidly toward the open gate. They 
had actually come within thirty yards of it before anyone 
saw them, which tells a tale of the negligence of the 
guards. 

Beasley saw them first. Shouting " Indians ! Ind- 
ians ! " he ran through the little enclosure toward the 
great, ponderous east gate, frantically striving to close it 
in the face of the charging enemy, now yelling madly 



174 Border Fights and Fighters 

and coming on gallantly. The soil was sandy and the 
wind had drifted it against the gate. With the strength 
of despair, Beasley threw himself against the timbers. The 
sand held for a fatal moment. But the major bent his 
back and pushed like mad and the gate began slowly to 
swing toward the post. Before he could close it the 
foremost Indians threw themselves upon it, thrust it back, 
fell upon Beasley with tomahawks, cut him down, and 
rushed over his body toward the troops in the outer 
enclosure. 

The men had scarcely time to seize their arms before 
the Indians burst upon them in a perfect torrent through 
the open gate. Beasley had crawled aside and they heard 
his voice from the midst of trampling feet, shouting to 
the men just before he died, " For God's sake, fight on ! " 
The major portion of the soldiers fled through the second 
gate into the vacant part of the fort and manned the wall. 
This inner gate was left open for a time, but was finally 
closed. Those who could not get away were slaugh- 
tered to a man in the outer enclosure, which was now full 
of Indians. At the same time the palisades were attacked 
on all other sides. The soldiers and settlers fought des- 
perately. Many of the women took part in the defence. 
One, Mrs. Daniel Bailey, actually thrust a bayonet into 
one man who played the craven and forced him to get up 
and fight ! 

Dixon Bailey, the brave half-breed, upon whom the 
command, after Beasley's death, had devolved, showed 
himself a hero. The Indians under Weatherford were no 
less courageous. The fighting was so close that some- 
times a soldier and an Indian would discharge their guns 
through the same port-hole at the same moment and 
both would be killed. The carnage on both sides was 




rhe major bent his back and pushed Hke mad." 



The Massacre at Fort MIms 175 

fearful, and after some three long hours of the hottest 
kind of fighting, the defenders being encouraged thereto 
by the heroic efforts of Bailey, who was everywhere ani- 
mating his men, the savages began to draw off with the 
plunder of the houses outside the stockade. 

Weatherford, riding a magnificent black horse that 
day, the very incarnation of a savage war chieftain, bit- 
terly protested at the retreat, and finally led his men for- 
ward for a final attack on the post. This time there was 
no withstanding them. 

Some of the houses in the enclosure were set on fire 
by burning arrows. The east gate was entered by an 
irresistible charge. The west gate was cut through with 
axes, after all the defenders had been slain, and another 
storm of Indians poured into the enclosure that way. The 
south wall was next gained. The defenders fought des- 
perately from house to house, while the roofs were burn- 
ing over their heads. Mims' house, from which, thrdugh 
apertures in the roof, a deadly fire had been kept up, was 
set on fire. In it were many of the women and children, 
who perished miserably, either by flame if they stayed, or 
by tomahawk or scalping-knife if they came out. The 
Indians did not waste blows or weapons on the small 
children, either. They killed them with their naked 
hands ! 

Soon the whole enclosure, save the north bastion, 
which was Bailey's particular command, was filled with 
frantic savages. Into the last refuge of the frail little 
enclosure of the bastion poured a perfect stream of fren- 
zied humanity, trampling each other to death in their mad 
terror. The place was packed so full that there was 
scarcely room to move in it, much less to defend it. Bai- 
ley appealed for someone to attempt to get away and 



176 Border Fights and Fighters 

bring succor. He was already severely wounded. When 
no one else volunteered he tried to go himself but was 
prevented by his friends. The place was entirely sur- 
rounded now at any rate. 

Those in the bastion were forced to see those outside 
killed in the most shocking manner. It is not possible to 
write of the barbarous deaths that these people died. 
Weatherford commanded, protested, implored, but he 
could not restrain his followers, now roused to a pitch of 
savage madness. They even threatened his own life, 
and he was at last forced to let them alone. He had 
loosed the storm; he could not control it. He regretted 
the slaughter to the last day of his life. 

Presently the Indians broke into the bastion. All was 
soon over. Some dozen soldiers tore openings in the 
palisade and managed to escape from the place of death. 
The rest were slaughtered where they were; most of 
them, even the women and children left, fighting heroi- 
cally to the last. Bailey was among those who got away, 
but only for a short distance in his case. He reached the 
swamp, but was so badly wounded, and in five places, 
that he lay down and died, bidding the men to leave him 
and to try to make their escape without him. 

The number of the slain was never accurately known, 
but not a white, or half-breed, man, woman, or child, 
survived, except those twelve soldiers; the killed certainly 
numbered over four hundred and fifty. The poor negro 
who had been left tied to the post to be whipped was 
killed in the first onset. The only persons whose lives 
were spared were some of the negroes who were reserved 
as slaves by the warriors. It may be, or may not be, an evi- 
dence of their civilization, but it is a fact that many of the 
Creeks owned numbers of negro slaves. 



The Massacre at Fort Mims 177 

The fort was burned to the ground. The Creeks had 
lost terribly in the assauh, for over four hundred warriors 
out of the thousand who had made up the party had 
been killed and many wounded, such had been the des- 
perate character of the defence. They made some effort 
to bury their own dead, but soon gave over the attempt, 
and taking what plunder they had gained, they moved 
away to attack other posts. 

The bodies of the men, women and children, negroes, 
half-breeds, whites and Indians, were left lying on the 
field. They were found there some days afterward by 
Major Kennedy with a relief expedition, and they buried 
what had been left of them after the ravages of bird and 
beast in one common awful grave. For desperation in 
defence, persistency in attack, and absolute courage on 
the part of both parties, the affair was, and remains, al- 
most without a parallel. 

A wave of indignation and horror swept over the 
southwest, penetrating even to the sick chamber of 
Andrew Jackson, lying almost helpless from a ghastly 
wound in his shoulder, the result of a duel. Rising from 
his bed, suffering agonies, but sustained only by his in- 
domitable will, he called to his aid the militiamen of 
Tennessee, and began that campaign which after many 
hard-fought battles of varying fortune, ended in the an- 
nihilation of the Creek warriors on the bloody field of 
Tohopeka at the Horse-Shoe Bend of the Alabama 
River. 

No Indians on the continent, except the Iroquois, ever 
fought in hand-to-hand conflict with the whites with such 
courage and success as these Mobilians. They mani- 
fested not a little of the spirit of those Indians, their ances- 
tors, who, two hundred and seventy-three years before, 



1 78 Border Fights and Fighters 

had brought De Soto's expedition to the verge of anni- 
hilation, under that redoubtable warrior Tuscaloosa. * 
While we abhor their cruelties we may at least admire 
their courage. 

* See my book, Colonial Fights and Fighters : De Soto. 



Part IV 
THE FAR SOUTH 

II 

Jackson's Victory at Tohopeka 



JACKSON'S VICTORY AT TOHOPEKA 

I. The Last Stand of the Creeks 

ON the morning of the 27th of March, 1814, that 
most redoubtable and successful of Indian fight- 
ers, General Andrew Jackson, at the head of an 
army of two thousand regulars and volunteers, arrived 
before the most formidable fortification which had ever 
been erected by savage warriors on the American conti- 
nent. One hundred and sixty miles from even the ragged 
edges of civilization, in the heart of the Alabama wilder- 
ness, the Creek Indians, one of the most powerful and 
intelligent of the southern savage tribes upon the conti- 
nent, had chosen to make a final stand in that war which 
they had entered upon at the instigation of that most 
capable and ferocious savage Tecumseh, and under the 
influence of the fanatical ravings of his brother, the 
prophet, a man less known as well as less able, but possi- 
bly more dangerous than the famous warrior. 

After their overwhelming success at the bloody massa- 
cre at Fort Mims on August 30th, 181 3, they had been 
defeated by Coffee at Talluschatches on the 3rd of No- 
vember, and most disastrously by Jackson at Talladega 
on the 9th of November. Their spirit, however, had 
remained unbroken by these reverses and after the with- 
drawal and dispersion of the American levies, in a series 
of predatory forays they had continued ravaging the bor- 

l8z 



1 82 Border Fights and Fighters 

der. A determined effort was needed to crush them and 
bring them finally into subjugation. 

To Jackson was entrusted this duty. The Creeks wiere 
immediately aware of the projected movement and with 
spirit undaunted they concentrated their forces and re- 
solved to stake their cause on one last desperate effort. 



••'';'-"liiflbl.':''';':''.' 




Map of the Horse-Shoe Bend and plan of the battle. 

The spot in which they had elected to make their stand 
was singularly well adapted for defensive purposes by the 
arrangement of nature. 

The Tallapoosa River, an affluent of the Alabama, is 
one of those tortuous southern streams which, in their 
many windings, drain a vast extent of territory. About 



Jackson's Victory at Tohopeka 183 

the middle of the eastern side of the present state the river 
bends sharply upon its course enclosing a piece of ground 
about one hundred acres in extent in the shape of a horse- 
shoe — called from that fact, To-ho-pe-ka, by the Indians. 
At the neck of the peninsula, three hundred and fifty yards 
across, the Indians had erected a breastwork of logs about 
six feet high and piled in zigzag fashion somewhat like 
an old-fashioned snake fence, the interspaces being filled 
with smaller timber and brushwood. 

By the construction of this breastwork, which indicated 
a higher degree of skill than usually possessed by sav- 
ages, who are supposed to know nothing about fortifica- 
tion, an enfilading fire was secured which would sweep 
the lines. It has been surmised by many writers that the 
character of the breastwork implies the work of a white 
man's brain, but this is not a necessary conclusion. The 
breastwork had been pierced with two rows of loop-holes. 

In that season the Tallapoosa was unfordable. The 
Indians had taken care to secure all the canoes on their 
side of the river under the blufifs around the bend, and 
the height of the shores presented a further obstacle to 
any attack from the rear. 

Within the enclosure were gathered some nine hun- 
dred warriors, the flower of the nation, indeed practically 
the last of it, with three hundred women and children. 
Three prophets — we would call them medicine men 
now — were a not unimportant factor in the defence. 
These, like other charlatans in other wars all over the 
world, had promised immunity from the white man's 
bullet to the savage braves. The promise may have 
added a certain degree of intensity to their determination, 
but as events showed, it was not necessary to enable them 
to put up one of the best defences that the Indians ever 



1 84 Border Fights and Fighters 

exhibited. The savages were well provided with rifles 
and muskets, in the use of which they were expert, and 
with ample food and unlimited water supply, they confi- 
dently awaited the American attack. 

The whole outlook, when Jackson arrived at the fort, 
was sufficiently forbidding, yet he was quick to see that 
once he could effect a lodgement in the bend, or get across 
the breastworks, the Indians would be at his mercy! 
They would be trapped ! The Creeks reasoned, it is 
supposed, that if Jackson succeeded in rushing the en- 
trenchment they could retreat by the river. Jackson 
took care of that. He despatched the redoubtable Gen- 
eral Coffee with seven hundred horsemen by a circuitous 
route to a ford of the river which had been discovered by 
one of the friendly Cherokees, the implacable enemies 
of the haughty, overbearing Creeks. The cavalry suc- 
ceeded in gaining the rear of the Indian position unob- 
served, although, of course, separated from it by the river. 
Coffee dismounted and disposed his troops so they could 
cover every egress from the bend. Having done this 
some of the Cherokees, bolder than the others, swam the 
river, cut the fastenings of the canoes and towed them to 
the other bank. 

Meanwhile Jackson had opened fire upon the breast- 
works from an eminence about eighty yards distant, with 
the two cannon of his army, a three and a six pounder. 
The Indians laughed in derision as the little cannon-balls 
buried themselves harmlessly in the huge logs of the bar- 
ricade. It was half after ten in the morning when the 
engagement began, and for several hours, while Coffee 
was making his detour and dispositions, it continued with 
but little effect on either side. 

Jackson could not make up his mind, from considera- 



Jackson's Victory at Tohopeka 185 

tion for his troops, to storm those formidable breast- 
works. Death would meet a great many of them in the 
attempt. His men, less thoughtful than he, clamored to 
be allowed to go forward, but the general with his usual 
hard-headed common-sense, refused to be influenced by 
the popular opinion of his army. 

This hesitation arose from no excess of caution or lack 
of courage on the part of Jackson. He was without 
doubt one of the bravest and most intrepid men, and one 
of the hardest fighters, that ever lived, and he proved his 
courage, moral and physical, in hundreds of ways. * He 
was even then suffering from a terrible wound, which he 
had received in a duel and which would have incapaci- 
tated any ordinary man from duty for years to come. His 
shoulder had been dreadfully shattered, so much so, that 
during this campaign he could scarcely bear even the 
weight of a coat-sleeve on it, and in all his military expe- 
riences he was never able to wear the heavy bullion epau- 
lets of his high rank. 

It must have been a source of grief and humiliation to 
him that in a private quarrel he had expended his blood 
and strength, now so sorely needed in the service of his 
country. He kept up in this instance by the exercise of 
that indomitable will which he possessed in such large 
measure. It was with no thought of himself, therefore, 
that he restrained his men through the long hours of that 
battle. 

About noon, however, the main army heard from Cof- 
fee. After his success in obtaining possession of the 
canoes he determined to send over a party to beat up 
the quarters of the Indians behind the breastworks. 

*See my book, American Fights an(f FighUrs; The Battle of New 
Orleans. 



1 86 Border Fights and Fighters 

Colonel Morgan was detailed for this duty. Accompa- 
nied by a small body of men he passed the river, set fire to 
the Indian huts and made a brilliant diversion in the rear. 
His band was too small for a sustained engagement and 
the attempt was only partially successful, for while the 
Indians detached parties from their front line to meet the 
new danger, and succeeded in driving off Morgan, they 
still held to their breastwork in force. However, the 
whole force had been disorganized by the occurrence and 
now, if ever, was the time for an advance. Jackson gave 
the signal which had been waited for. 



II. The Heroism of Young Sam Houston 

It was about half after twelve when the drummers beat 
the long roll. The eager men took up the advance and 
scrambled through the broken and heavily timbered 
ground on the run. The Thirty-ninth United States 
under Colonel Williams took one side, and the East 
Tennessee brigade of volunteers under General Bunch, 
the other. Jackson on horseback led them. They suc- 
ceeded in reaching the rampart which towered above 
their heads, though not without severe loss on the way, 
When they reached the breastwork there was some hesi- 
tation. The men poked their guns through the port-- 
holes and fired point blank at the Indians, who returned 
the fire. 

This interchange of shots was productive of some loss, 
but nothing whatever could be determined by it. Some- 
thing had to be done and done quickly. Two of^cers, 
realizing the necessity, leaped for the top of the breast- 
works, calling upon the others to follow them. The 
first one was Major L. P. Montgomery of the Thirty- 



Jackson's Victory at Tohopeka 187 

ninth Infantry. He had scarcely reached the top when 
he pitched forward, dead, a bullet in his forehead — the 
first man over ! The second man was Ensign Sam Hous- 
ton of Tennessee, 

As Houston gained the top he stood for a moment in 
full view. Rifles cracked, bullets sang about him, but 
left him untouched. An arrow, however, made a deep 
wound in his thigh. Sword in hand Houston, then but 
twenty years old, leaped down amid the Indians. He 
was at once followed by a portion of his men. On the 
other flank the volunteers emulated the example of the 
regulars and the breastwork was finally gained. The 
Indians were swept from the line of defence to which they 
had clung so stubbornly. 

But the savages were by no means defeated. The bend 
was heavily wooded and filled with brush-heaps and log- 
huts, and every house, every brush-heap, every tree 
clump, every copse, became a rallying point for defence. 
The woods were filled with flame and smoke into which 
the American soldiers plunged to get at their red foemen. 

Conscious of his wound at last Houston leaned against 
the breastwork and begged the lieutenant of his company 
to pull out the arrow, which was, of course, barbed and 
firmly imbedded in the flesh. The lieutenant made two 
ineffectual efforts to pull out the arrow, but failed on 
account of the barbs. Maddened by the pain Houston 
raised his sword at the officer and vowed he would cut 
him down if he failed a third time. Under this stimulus 
the lieutenant jerked the arrow from the wound. It was, 
of course, followed by a gush of blood which nearly left 
the boy helpless. 

He scrambled over the breastworks again and went 
back to the surgeons in the rear. Jackson saw him while 



1 88 Border Fights and Fighters 

his wound was being dressed and ordered him to retire 
from the action. The boy begged and implored permis- 
sion of the general to return when the flow of blood was 
stanched, but Jackson curtly refused his plea. The bat- 
tle was still raging all over the bend. It was too much 
for Houston to stand. As soon as he was released by the 
surgeon he deliberately disobeyed his orders, scrambled 
over the breastworks, found his company, and continued 
the fight. 

It was nearly all over but the killing. Surrounded by 
overwhelming numbers of soldiers there was nothing left 
for the Creeks to do but to die, and they died game. No 
one asked for quarter, no one appears to have thought 
of surrender. As they were forced from line to line, 
from place to place, those alive at last reached the river 
bank. They were appalled to find their canoes gone, but 
plunged dauntlessly into the ford, only to be met by the 
cool, steady, withering fire from CofTee's riflemen, lining 
the banks on the farther side. 

Jackson was not a merciless man, as he was popularly 
supposed to have been, and he did his utmost to stop the 
carnage, but on that smoke-covered, blood-saturated pen- 
insula, in that almost impenetrable tangle of primeval 
forest, it was impossible to get hold of his men; and the 
Indians themselves, in their proud disdain to ask for quar- 
ter, in their determination to continue the fight, rendered 
his efforts abortive. The battle stopped about three 
o'clock in the afternoon. It stopped because one side 
had been wiped out. There were no more Indians to be 
conquered, but in its ending was seen its most dramatic 
feature. 

A party of desperate Indians took position in a deep 
ravine near the river bank which had been covered by 




"They plunged dauntlessly into the ford, only to be 
met by the fire from Coffee's riflemen on the farther 
side." 



Jackson's Victory at Tohopeka 189 

heavy logs. There appeared to be only one way to get 
at them and that was by a rush at the entrance, which was 
fully covered by the savage rifles. Jackson called for 
volunteers to storm the place. No one responded to his 
appeal until, with his usual impetuous headlong valor, 
young Sam Houston, in spite of his wound, sprang to the 
front. 

Seizing a musket and calling upon the men to follow 
him he made a rush at the entrenchment. The men made 
a forward movement but stopped after going a few feet, 
and Houston, not noticing that he was unsupported, ran 
forward alone, raising his piece to fire as he approached. 
He received the entire discharge of that last desperate 
band of Indians. As he neared the entrance to the ravine 
two bullets struck him, one in the arm, the other in the 
shoulder. His musket fell from his hand and he stood 
helpless in this dangerous position. 

Seeing at last that he was unsupported he deliberately 
turned around, still under fire, walked back out of range 
to his soldiers, and fell helpless. No one else tried to 
rush that position. The Americans found means to set 
fire to the covering logs, thus forcing the Indians out into 
the open, where they were killed as fast as they appeared. 

The battle was over. Of the nine hundred warriors 
who had manned the place five hundred and fifty-seven 
were killed outright and their bodies were found where 
they had fallen. There do not seem to have been any 
wounded to speak of, at least the writers make no men- 
tion of them. It is estimated that over two hundred were 
shot or drowned in attempting to cross the river and 
probably nearly all of the few who succeeded in getting 
over perished in the surrounding woods, through which 
the American soldiers ranged for some time, taking pot 



190 Border Fights and Fighters 

shots at every Indian they saw. The fighting force of 
the tribe was blotted out then and forever. There was 
no more Creek war, for there were no more Creeks. 

The Americans had paid a high price for their victory, 
however, for the killed and wounded numbered over two 
hundred. Among the most seriously wounded was 
young Sam Houston, who had so distinguished himself 
on that day. When he was brought back to camp the 
surgeons, deeming his wounds mortal, paid little atten- 
tion to him, devoting themselves to those whom they 
thought they had a chance of saving. He lay all night 
on the ground with little or no care. They did extract 
one bullet, but made no attempt to probe for the other. 

In the morning, finding him still alive to their great 
surprise, they put him on a rude litter, improvised out of 
trees and branches, and carried him seventy miles to Fort 
Williams. He survived this journey, and the fact that 
he had done so gave the surgeons an idea that probably 
he might be worth looking after. He was attended at 
Fort Williams with such rude surgery as the frontier 
afforded and after some time removed to another post. 

Two months after the battle he reached his home in 
west Tennessee, after a journey of several hundred miles 
in a horse litter ! He was so emaciated by his terrible 
hardships, his face was so changed from the effects of his 
unhealed wounds — and they remained unhealed to the 
end of his life, by the way — that his own mother did not 
recognize him. But, as we shall see, he lived to take part 
in another more important and more famous battle, two 
decades later, in which he was the commander instead 
of a subaltern. 



Part IV 
THE FAR SOUTH 

III 

When the Seminoles Fought for Freedom 



WHEN THE SEMINOLES FOUGHT 
FOR FREEDOM 

I. The Injustice of the United States 

TO put all the Indian wars in which the United 
States has engaged under one censure, or to 
include them in one category, is unscientific, 
because it takes no account of the facts. Some of the 
wars were as justifiable as any which have ever been 
waged by our people. Some of them were brought 
upon the Indians by their own deliberate actions. For 
the war of the Apaches under Geronimo upon the United 
States no defence of the Indians whatever can be urged. 
Nor is there much to be said, to use an older instance, in 
behalf of the Creeks, who commenced their famous war 
by the Battle of Burnt Corn and the Massacre at Fort 
Mims. 

On the other hand, there is no justification for the 
United States for — to cite a modern illustration — the Nez 
Perces war, and there is but little for that in which the 
following incidents occurred. 

The Seminoles of Florida and southern Georgia were 
among the ablest and bravest Indians on the continent. 
The name means " runaway," and they were mainly of 
the famous Creek stock which had furnished many 
instances of capacity and courage. They were leavened 
by the remnant of the ancient aborigines of Florida who 
13 193 



194 Border Fights and Fighters 

had escaped the inevitable extermination attendant upon 
Spanish occupation. They were a small tribe, probably 
never able to put more than two or three thousand war- 
riors in the field. 

Their country was to the southern states after the war 
of 1812 just what Oklahoma and the Indian Territory 
were to the western states a few years since. Nominally 
under the government of Spain, which pretended to do 
little and could do less in keeping order, their country 
was the refuge of every outlaw and vagabond who 
wanted to escape from the law and justice ; and especially 
was it a convenient asylum for the fugitive slave. 

The negroes by no means gained their freedom among 
the Seminoles, but they enjoyed a quasi-liberty which 
made their condition much more tolerable than that of 
complete servitude. And when to this state of affairs 
were added facilities for wild and savage life, to which 
their natural inclination directed them, it is not strange 
that many of them embraced the opportunity for change, 
and crossed the line as they had or could make a 
chance. 

There was constant friction back and forth between 
parties of slave-catchers, officers of the law, and the 
Indians. When the territory was ceded to the United 
States in 1821, after Jackson's vigorous foray, conditions 
became even more intolerable. Whatever may be said 
of the rights and wrongs of the situation, never in the his- 
tory of the world has it been, and I presume never will it 
be, that a vast body of fertile and arable land suitable 
for settlement could be withheld from a people who were 
willing to go in and cultivate it, in the interests of those 
who simply wished to retain it as a game preserve, and 
who were unable or unwilling to use it themselves. A 



Seminolcs Fought for Freedom 195 

rude tribal government will not be permitted to exist in 
contravention to a civilized administration. The weak 
have always had to go to the wall ; whether they always 
will is a question. But there are ways and ways, and 
the United States chose a bad way and paid for it. 

It was proposed to remove the Seminoles beyond the 
Mississippi, the government paying them a small sum for 
the lands thus opened for white settlement, promising 
them an annuity for a short time, and further agreeing to 
assume the expenses of transportation. After much per- 
suasion the Seminoles, who had already been crowded 
down into what is now Florida, at last agreed to go, at 
least a portion of them did; but to make a long story 
short, when the time came for signing the treaty and 
starting the exodus, only a few of them were willing to 
leave. 

Now the land by ancient usage and long occupation, 
belonged to the Seminoles. The United States had no 
vested right to take it from them or to force them to 
leave against their will, yet that is what the United States 
proceeded to do. Matters came to a crisis in November, 
1836, when Charlie Amathla, a chief who had sold his 
lands and received his stipend, agreeing to go, was shot by 
a party under the leadership of Micanopy and Osceola. 

Micanopy was the head chief of the Seminoles. Osceola 
was a half-breed, the son of an Englishman named Powell. 
He had been reared with the tribe, however, and was to 
all intents and purposes an Indian. He was the most 
implacable and persistent, as well as the ablest, antago- 
nist of the United States among the Seminoles, and his 
talents for war, his administrative and executive ability, 
speedily raised him to a position of the first importance. 
He had many noble qualities and for an Indian he stands 



196 Border Fights and Fighters 

upon a very high plane, although he was not altogether 
the magnanimous hero which popular imagination de- 
picts him. 

For instance, when they found the American gold 
which Amathla had received for his lands upon his person 
after they had murdered him, Osceola would not permit 
his band to appropriate any portion of it, but threw it 
away, saying that it was blood-money and that its pos- 
session would invite disaster! 

One dramatic incident in his career has often been 
repeated. When he w'as asked with other chiefs to sign 
a treaty agreeing to the translation of the tribe beyond 
the Mississippi, he walked to the table, drew a knife and 
drove it through the parchment by a blow of his powerful 
arm, remarking grimly that thus and thus only would he 
sign the treaty. 

The United States, being fully determined to remove 
the Seminoles willy-nilly, Osceola promptly began hostil- 
ities. Before they got through with him and his the 
country paid a price for Florida which staggered human- 
ity — humanity being more easily staggered in those days 
than now. The war was protracted by these two or 
three thousand Seminole warriors through seven years. 
It cost the United States twenty million dollars and the 
lives of fifteen hundred regular soldiers and certainly 
more than as many of the settlers and volunteers. 

Reputations were made and lost — the latter, mainly — 
by successive commanders, and Osceola was finally capt- 
ured by an act of the blackest treachery. This was 
nothing less than a flagrant violation of a safe conduct 
and a flag of truce, by General Jessup, of the U. S. Army, 
who had invited a conference with the chiefs, promising 
them absolute liberty to go as they had come, and who 



Seminoles Fought for Freedom 197 

seized Osceola forcibly, when he trusted his person to 
American honor. The dauntless chief was thrown into 
prison and died at Fort Moultrie of grief and despair, 
after a short captivity. 

In the end, of course, the Seminoles were defeated. 
The bulk of those who were left were sent beyond the 
Mississippi and a few who were harmless were allowed to 
remain in Florida. The country was at last open to set- 
tlement. 

The Indians were able to protract the contest for seven 
years, first, on account of their splendid qualities as irreg- 
ular fighters, and second, by the almost inaccessible char- 
acter of the Everglades to which they repaired. They 
were not beaten until the warriors were practically exter- 
minated. In many respects their superb fighting reminds 
us of that of the Boers in South Africa. Their magnifi- 
cent valor and their desperate determination, the capac- 
ity of their chiefs, and the consecration of their warriors, 
sustained them to the end. Right was made only by 
might, in this instance. 

II. The Massacre of Dade and his Men 

The most terrible happening during the war was 
the occurrence which practically began it, and which 
is known as " The Dade Massacre." The word 
" massacre " is a very easy one to bruit about, but 
how a body of troops who are surprised by an enemy 
in war time and who fight without asking quarter, until 
they are all killed, can be said to be massacred, in an 
invidious sense, is an open question. However, to the 
story. 

In the fall of 1836, there were some five hundred 



198 Border Fights and Fighters 

United States regular troops in Florida, ten companies 
in all; one company at St. Augustine, six at Fort King 
in the centre of the state, nearest the scene of hostilities, 
and three at Fort Brooke on Hillsboro Bay, near what is 
now known as Tampa. Two companies were ordered 
from Fort Brooke on the i6th of December, to meet 
a force from Fort King near the forks of the Withlacoo- 
chee River, or Ouithlacoochee, as it used to be spelled, 
in order to undertake a punitive expedition. 

To have taken one hundred men away from Fort 
Brooke would have left it practically defenceless. The 
commander, therefore, did not obey the order of General 
Clinch, the commander-in-chief in Florida, until a re-en- 
forcement of forty men under the command of IMajor 
Francis L. Dade reached him from Key West. Dade was 
a captain and brevet major in the Fourth Infantry, the 
same regiment which had, under Boyd, fought so gal- 
lantly at Tippecanoe twenty-five years before. 

Immediately on his arrival the expeditionary force was 
made up. Drafts from Dade's Fourth Infantry men were 
made to complete two full companies of fifty men each 
of the Second Artillery and the Third Infantry, com- 
manded by Captains Gardiner and Frazer respectively, 
with Lieutenants Bassinger, Henderson, Mudge and 
Keais, and Assistant Surgeon Gatlin. as their subordi- 
nates. Captain Gardiner was to command the expedi- 
tion, but on the morning of the start Major Dade dis- 
covered that Captain Gardiner's wife was seriously ill 
and he therefore volunteered to lead the party so that 
Captain Gardiner could remain at the post to care for 
his wife. 

The offer was accepted by the grateful captain and the 
party, comprising one hundred and nine effectives and a 



Seminoles Fought for Freedom 199 

Spanish negro gnide, set out, carrying ten days' provi- 
sions and accompanied by one six-pounder drawn by four 
oxen and one light horse wagon. The departure was 
taken at 6 a.m. on the 24th inst. 

A short time after they left the post Captain Gardiner 
learned that a comfortable transport was to sail imme- 
diately for Key West, and as members of his wife's fam- 
ily and other friends were stationed there at the time, it 
was decided that it would be advisable to send Mrs. Gar- 
diner thither on the transport. Accordingly they placed 
her aboard the ship, and her husband bade her farewell, 
galloped after the detachment, which had been delayed 
by the breaking down of the ox train, and succeeded in 
reaching it that evening, raising the muster to one hun- 
dred and ten officers and men. It was a pity Gardiner 
had not gone with his poor wife. 

Dade had halted his advance, sent back for horses to 
draw the cannon, and when they were provided marched 
on. The troops progressed slowly toward the designated 
rendezvous. It took them four days to make sixty-five 
miles. They w^ere under Indian surveillance from the 
start. It was afterward learned that their guide w^as a 
traitor who had betrayed the route, and the Seminoles 
had resolved to intercept them. The usual precautions 
were observed, however, on the march and the camps 
were made carefully and thoroughly protected by sen- 
tries. 

They were not molested, though conscious of observa- 
tion, until the 28th of December. They had crossed the 
fork of the Withlacoochee and were marching along the 
trail which served as a road. The ground was an open 
barren. On one side, however, there was a small pond 
surrounded by a stretch of swamp overgrown with grass 



200 Border Fights and Fighters 

five feet high and interspersed with scrubby palmettos. 
On the left side of the road the ground, save for the pine 
trees, was open and unencumbered. 

Here the Indians had chosen to attack. They wished 
and expected to annihilate the detachment, and they 
selected a place which offered the Americans no conceal- 
ment, so that none of them could get away. At eight 
o'clock in the morning the advance came slowly trailing 
up the road. 

Osceola had intended to direct the attack in person, but 
he was busy the day before, killing General Thompson, 
the Indian agent, his aides and the other settlers, and did 
not reach the scene of the battle until long after it was 
over. The Indians, however, were ably led by Micanopy. 
Some two hundred of them lay hidden in the tall grass 
overlooking the road which passed close to them. They 
had received strict orders from their chief not to fire on 
any account until he gave the signal, which would be the 
discharge of his own piece. 

There do not seem to have been any flankers thrown 
out on this occasion. The place was the most unlikely 
one for an ambuscade that could have been conceived. 
There were numberless spots on the march where they 
might have been assaulted, narrow defiles, thick woods 
enclosed by impassable morasses, but here the country on 
one side was open and on the other the grass would have 
afforded cover to no force but an Indian one. 

In high spirits the troops marched along. Captain 
Frazer and Lieutenant Mudge led the advance, which 
seems to have been strung out in a long line. After them 
came Major Dade with the main body with the six- 
pounder and the wagons in the midst. With cool and 
terrible patience Micanopy waited until the whole line 



Seminoles Fought for Freedom 201 

was under the guns of his troops. Taking careful and 
deliberate aim at Dade he shot him dead. 

Instantly the grass was alive with smoke and fire. Over 
half of the American force was shot down at the first vol- 
ley. Captain Frazer was instantly killed and Lieutenant 
Mudge was mortally wounded. Lieutenant Henderson 
had his left arm broken, and Lieutenant Keais both arms 
broken. Captain Gardiner, Lieutenant Bassinger and 
Dr. Gatlin were the only officers unhurt. 

The suddenness of this appalling attack with the terri- 
ble losses consequent upon it, to the credit of the soldiers, 
be it said, in no wise disorganized them. There was 
no panic, the men abandoned the road instantly and 
took to the trees which abounded, in true Indian fashion, 
and poured a heavy fire upon the Seminoles. For some 
forty minutes the battle raged furiously, the Americans 
husbanding their fire and not delivering it until they 
caught sight of an enemy, when the Indians actually 
withdrew. 

Hastily collecting the wounded who could be moved 
Captain Gardiner, who seems to have acted with great 
courage, moved back a short distance, bringing with him 
the six-pounder, which had been rapidly served by Lieu- 
tenant Bassinger. He had between forty or fifty men 
able to continue the battle. Instantly they set to work 
to fell trees to make a breastwork which he drew out in 
the form of a triangle. 

They all worked with fervent desperation but did not 
succeed in raising the breastwork more than three small 
tree trunks high when the Indians appeared once more. 
They had been re-enforced and returned to the attack. 
The battle recommenced with fury. The other side of 
the road where the grass was thickest was a little higher 



101 Border Fights and Fighters 

than the place where the troops had attempted to make 
the breastwork in their haste, which, unfortunately, was 
in a slight depression. The Indians who surrounded the 
little fort on all sides easily commanded it with their fire. 

Lieutenant Henderson, in spite of his broken arm, con- 
tinued to load and fire his musket until he was shot down. 
Lieutenant Keais lay in the breastwork, leaning his head 
against a log, helpless with his broken arms slung by a 
handkerchief, until he was shot again and killed. Dr. 
Gatlin, who had two double-barrelled shotguns which 
he used effectively, was finally killed by a bullet in the 
head. Captain Gardiner was mortally wounded and fell, 
crying, " I can give you no more orders, lads. Do your 
best!" 

Lieutenant Bassinger, who had fought his piece of 
artillery which was exposed on the outside of the fort 
until every man detailed to it had been killed, and him- 
self seriously wounded, crawled into the fort thereafter 
and continued the battle until every man had been killed 
or wounded. When the Indians perceived that the fort 
was silent, about two o'clock in the afternoon they ceased 
firing and swarmed into it. 

They took many scalps but did not mutilate the bodies 
nor even rob them, except to take the officers' coats. 
Almost immediately they left the scene of action. The 
reason for their sudden departure was that they expected 
General Clinch's men, the troops from Fort King, which 
they must prepare to meet at once. 

III. After the Battle 

After they left the battle-field, however, a party of some 
fifty negroes appeared who began to kill and plunder 




Ib,^t ^S^BIj 




-f 



Seminoles Fought for Freedom 203 

the bodies. Lieutenant Bassinger, the only officer left 
alive, had, with some of the others, lain perfectly 
quiet while the Indians were in the fort, feigning death. 
When he perceived the intent of the negroes he strug- 
gled to his knees and begged for his life and the lives of 
his men. With brutal wickedness they cut him down 
with hatchets and mutilated his body in a fearful manner. 
They, too, were in a hurry, and three living private sol- 
diers escaped their attention. Two others had managed 
to get away during the confusion of the fight, both 
severely wounded. 

Ransom Clark, one of the living, had been wounded 
five times. His head had been struck by a bullet and 
he was covered with blood. One of the negroes had 
seized him to kill him, but another crying that the man 
was already dead as his head was blown open, the negro 
dropped him to the ground. He and the others had 
to lie perfectly still, not daring to give vent even to 
their anguish. Finally at evening one of the men left 
alive struggled to his feet and darted across the little 
breastwork. He was instantly shot dead by a lurking 
Indian. 

Ransom Clark and a man named Cony, the remaining 
two, waited until dark and then started to return to Fort 
Brooke; Fort King was much nearer, but they did not 
know the way, and the Indians were between them and 
the troops. The progress of the two wounded men was 
attended by the most excruciating agony and was fright- 
fully slow. They were so badly injured that they were 
compelled to crawl the greater portion of the way on 
their hands and knees. 

The next morning a mounted Indian observed the two 
fugitives. As the only chance for life they divided. The 



204 Border Fights and Fighters 

Indian pursued Cony and shot him, but Ransom Clark, 
urged to impossible exertions by the desperation of his 
case escaped from him. After three days he had dragged 
himself, or crawled, over the sixty-five miles that in- 
tervened between the place of the fight and Fort Brooke. 
He and the other two men referred to were the only 
persons who escaped, and the other two died of their 
wounds shortly after reaching the fort, leaving Clark as 
the sole survivor. 

Clark was in a pitiable condition when he reached Fort 
Brooke, but he survived his awful sufferings for several 
years, dying as the result of them in 1840. He had led 
an adventurous Hfe indeed, and had more than once es- 
caped from sudden death, the last occasion being a few 
years before when he was the only man saved from a 
boating party which had gone out from Fort Morgan for 
a sail and had been overtaken by a storm. 

The story of that battle sent a thrill of horror through- 
out the country, and sealed the fate of the Seminoles. 
Those who had been inclined to show them pity, or to 
temporize, were now equally resolved with the others to 
wage war relentlessly until the end. 

It was not until the following February — in the inter- 
val several battles having taken place — that an expedition 
reached the place where Dade and his command had been 
exterminated. The Inspector General thus reports 
what he found : 

"Western Department, 
" Fort King, Florida, Feb. 22, 1836. 

" General — Agreeably to your directions, I observed 
the battle ground six or seven miles north of the Withla- 
coochee River, where Major Dade and his command 
were destroyed by the Seminole Indians on the 28th of 



Seminoles Fought for Freedom 205 

December, last, and have the honor to submit the follow- 
ing Report : 

" The force under your command, which arrived at this 
post to-day from Tampa Bay, encamped on the 19th 
instant, on the ground occupied by Major Dade on the 
night of the 27th of December. He and his party were 
destroyed on the morning of the 28th, about four miles 
in advance of that position. He was advancing towards 
this post, and was attacked from the north, so that on 
the 20th instant we came upon the rear of his battle 
ground, about nine o'clock in the morning. Our advance 
guard had passed the ground without halting, when the 
General and his Staf¥ came upon one of the most appall- 
ing scenes that can be imagined. We first saw some 
broken and scattered bones; then a cart, the two oxen of 
which were lying dead, as if they had fallen asleep, their 
yokes still upon them; a little to the right, one or two 
horses were seen. We then came to a small enclosure, 
made by felling trees in such a manner as to form a tri- 
angular breastwork for defence. Within the triangle, 
along the north and west faces of it, were about 
thirty bodies, mostly mere skeletons, although much 
of the clothing was left upon them. These were ly- 
ing, every one of them, in precisely the same posi- 
tion they must have occupied during the fight; their 
heads next to the logs over which they had delivered 
their fire, and their bodies stretched with striking regu- 
larity parallel to each other. They had evidently been 
shot dead at their posts, and the Indians had not dis- 
turbed them, except by taking the scalps of most of them. 
Passing this little breastwork, we found other bodies 
along the road, and by the side of the road, generally be- 
hind trees, which had been resorted to for covers from 



io6 Border Fights and Fighters 

the enemies' fire. Advancing about two hundred yards 
farther, we found a cluster of bodies in the middle of the 
road. They were evidently the advanced guard, in the 
rear of which was the body of Major Dade, and to the 
right that of Captain Fraser. 

" These were doubtless all shot down by the first fire of 
the Indians, except, perhaps, Captain Fraser, who must 
however have fallen very early in the fight. Those in 
the road, and by the trees, fell during the first attack. 
It was during a cessation of the fire, that the little 
band still remaining, about thirty in number, threw up 
the triangular breast-work, which, from the haste with 
which it was constructed, was necessarily defective, and 
could not protect the men in the second attack. 

" We had with us many of the personal friends of the 
of^cers of Major Dade's command, and it is gratifying to 
be able to state, that every officer was identified by un- 
doubted evidence. They were buried, and the cannon, 
a six-pounder, that the Indians had thrown into a swamp^ 
was recovered and placed vertically at the head of the 
grave, where it is to be hoped it will long remain. 
The bodies of the non-commissioned ofTficers and pri- 
vates were buried in two graves and it was found that 
every man was accounted for. The command was com- 
posed of eight officers and one hundred and two non- 
commissioned officers and privates. The bodies of eight 
officers and ninety-eight men were interred, four men 
having escaped; three of whom reached Tampa Bay; the 
fourth was killed the day after the battle. 

" It may be proper to remark, that the attack was not 
made from a hammock, but in a thinly wooded country; 
the Indians being concealed by palmetto and grass, which 
has since been burned. 



Seminoles Fought for Freedom 207 

" The two companies were Captain Fraser's of the 
3rd Artillery, and Captain Gardiner's of the 2nd Ar- 
tillery. The officers were Major Dade of the 4th 
Infantry, Captains Fraser and Gardiner, Second Lieut. 
Bassinger, Brevet Second Lieutenants R. Henderson, 
Mudge and Keais, of the Artillery, and Dr. J. S. Gatlin. 

" 1 have the honor to be, with the highest respect, your 
obedient servant, 

" E. A. Hitchcock, 
" Captain 1st Infantry, Act, In. General. 

" Major General E. P. Gaines, 
" Commanding Western Department, Fort King, Flor- 
ida." 

The bones of the officers and soldiers were afterward 
exhumed and reinterred at St. Augustine with appropriate 
ceremonies and a monument erected over them. There 
is also another monument to Dade at West Point, of 
which, by the way, he was not a graduate. It bears this 
significant inscription : 

"TO COMMEMORATE THE BATTLE OF THE 28TH OF 
DECEMBER, BETWEEN A DETACHMENT OF 108 U. 
S. TROOPS AND THE SEMINOLE INDIANS, OF 
FLORIDA, IN WHICH ALL THE DETACH- 
MENT SAVE THREE FELL WITHOUT AN 
ATTEMPT TO RETREAT." 

In this connection, one phrase of Captain Hitchcock's 
report is worthy of note. The men had been shot at their 
posts ! The bodies were found drawn up in the lines as 



2o8 Border Fights and Fighters 

they had fought. In the face of that appalling disaster, 
bereft of their officers, confronted by a sure and awful 
death, they had gallantly maintained the heroic traditions 
of the American Army, dying on the battle ground in 
their appointed stations. Honor to them ! 



Part V 
THE NORTH WEST TERRITORY 

I 

George Rogers Clark and the Great North West 



GEORGE ROGERS CLARK AND THE 
GREAT NORTH WEST 

I. The Origin of a Great Idea 

THE first white man who penetrated the 
heart of the territory bounded by the Ohio, the 
great Lakes and the Mississippi, was that re- 
doubtable explorer and heroic soul, Robert Cavelier, 
Sieur de la Salle. In 1669-70 he traversed what is now 
Indiana and explored the country along the beautiful 
Ohio as far as the Mississippi, claiming the whole vast re- 
gion for France. For nearly one hundred years there- 
after the white flag of that sunny land fluttered from the 
stales of small forts, which were erected from time to 
time at strategic points commanding the river highways, 
in accordance with the military genius of the French sol- 
diery. These strategic points became centres of trade, 
agriculture, and commerce in the succeeding centuries. 

In 1727 the Sieur de Vincennes established a military 
post on the Ouabache (Wabash), where the town of the 
same name now stands in southern Indiana. In 1735 a 
few families settled there, and their number was slowly 
augmented during the century. The fort, although 
nearer the province of Quebec, was in the territory of the 
district of Illinois, of the province of Louisiana. The 
headquarters of the district were at Kaskaskia, situated 
where the river of the same name empties into the Mis- 

211 



212 Border Fights and Fighters 

sissippi, and the capital of the province was New Or- 
leans. 

In 1736 the gallant commander and founder of Vin- 
cennes was killed, bravely fighting, by the English and 
Indians in a war against the Natchez, and the Chickasaws, 
when d'Artaguiette met with overwhelming defeat. 
Says Charlevoix, " Vincennes ceased not until his last 
breath to exhort the men to behave worthy of their relig- 
ion and their country." D'Artaguiette and fifteen of his 
companions were captured and burned at the stake. 
Louis St. Ange de Bellerive was appointed to the govern- 
orship of the little Indiana town in 1736, and remained in 
charge until 1764; in this long tour of duty proving in- 
deed a father to his people. 

Perhaps nowhere on the continent has humanity dwelt 
in such peaceful simplicity as in the little settlement at 
Vincennes. Even the Indians lived in amicable relations 
with the colonists in the main. Cut ofif from intercourse 
with the rest of the world, it passed them by unheeding 
and unheeded, the fleeting years leaving the people un- 
changed. In hunting and fishing, in agriculture of the 
most primitive kind, with implements which might have 
been used two thousand years before; in trading down 
the river to New Orleans; in feasting, in frolic, with all 
the gayety of their French nationality, the uneventful 
days glided by. 

Except at Kaskaskia there was not a school in the 
whole vast territory, although incredible as it may seem, 
there was a billiard table in the settlement on the Wabash ! 
The little education the inhabitants received was imparted 
by the faithful and devoted missionaries who dwelt 
among them. 

In 1763, on the completion of the Seven Years' War, 



George Rogers Clark 213 

the whole country from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of 
Mexico on the hither side of the Mississippi fell into the 
hands of England by treaty, although, owing to the fearful 
outbreak of savage passion, engendered and stimulated 
by Pontiac, except Tecumseh the ablest Indian who ever 
lived, the English were not able to take immediate pos- 
session of it. Kaskaskia and Fort Chartres, the principal 
military post, were turned over to them in 1765, and the 
post at V^incennes sometime later. On the western side 
of the river France ceded her claims to the territory to 
Spain. 

The conquest made little difference to the inhabitants. 
They had not been greatly concerned in the war which 
had resulted in the transfer of their allegiance and they 
were not greatly concerned with another more important 
event which happened later on. They lived on just as 
they had done before — perhaps a little less cheerfully, a 
little less happily, under the Union Jack than under the 
Fleur-de-lis, but there was not much difference. 

Meanwhile all of the vast territory w^est of the Alle- 
gheny Mountains which had hitherto proved a barrier to 
the settlements having their origin on the seaboard, was 
attracting the attention of such bold, adventurous spirits 
as Boone, Robertson, and Sevier. Among other empire 
builders who surveyed it with eager, if not prophetic 
vision, was George Rogers Clark. 

Like many of the pioneers he was a native of the great 
state of Virginia, where he was born on the 19th of No- 
vember, 1752. The west was settled by men from the 
south of Mason and Dixon's line, except in the case of 
Pennsylvania. Without belonging to the landed gentry, 
the Clark family was respectable, and he himself received 
such education as the western part of the Old Dominion 



214 Border Fights and Fighters 

afforded. Like George Washington and many young 
men of the day, he became a surveyor, in which vocation 
he displayed great proficiency. But at best his acquire- 
ments were Hmited. His spelHng was simply awful, al- 
though his diction and his chirography were somewhat 
better. However, spelling was thought somewhat lightly 
of by many gentlemen who had enjoyed more advantages 
than this young Virginian. 

He was a strongly built, heavy set man, with broad brow 
and keen blue eyes, with a dash of red in his hair from 
a Scottish ancestress, which corresponded with the fight- 
ing qualities of the man. He was a young man of suffi- 
cient consideration in the community to receive a commis- 
sion as captain in Lord Dunmore's war, a school which 
graduated many of^cers into the more serious conflict 
which followed hard upon it. Clark was one of Dun- 
more's staff, apparently, and therefore did not participate 
in the famous battle of Point Pleasant on the Kanawha. 
After the war he went to Kentucky, which he had before 
visited on a surveying expedition. Subsequently he be- 
came one of the most prominent of the pioneers in that 
famous territory. 

The Revolution found the Clark family intense and 
zealous patriots. The two oldest brothers immediately 
enlisted in the Continental line and served with credit — 
the elder one with distinction — during the whole of the 
war. George Rogers, the third, was not less ardent in 
his patriotism than the other two, and he displayed his 
qualities on a more splendid field. The remaining broth- 
er, too young for the Revolution, showed his qualities in 
the famous Lewis and Clark expedition across the conti- 
nent in 1804-6. 

When the war began, the Indians, stimulated thereto 



George Rogers Clark 215 

by the British, inaugurated a series of ruthless forays, not 
only into the " dark and bloody ground " of Kentucky, 
but everywhere on the borders. The few frontier settle- 
ments in Kentucky, with which we are at present con- 
cerned, were at once put on the defensive and forced to 
fight for their lives. With the forethought of state build- 
ers, desirous of organizing a civil government of some 
sort in the trans-Allegheny region, and of representing 
their defenceless condition to Virginia, which they rightly 
considered their mother territory, they called a conven- 
tion at Clark's instance, at Harrodsburg in 1775. He 
was delayed in reaching the convention when it opened, 
and found, when he did arrive, that he and one other had 
been elected to the Virginia legislature from Kentucky, 
which at that time had no legal existence and therefore 
no right to send delegates to the assembly. However, 
he made the long arduous journey across the mountains 
to Williamsburg only to learn that the legislature had ad- 
journed before his arrival. 

He and his companion at once made representations to 
the Governor, the redoubtable Patrick Henry, concern- 
ing the situation beyond the Mississippi, asking for five 
hundred pounds of powder to defend themselves against 
the savages, and suggesting also that some steps be taken 
for the establishment of civil government in this wild and 
lawless expanse of territory. There was in existence 
at the time a Transylvania Company, so called, of which 
Colonels Henderson and Campbell were chief promoters, 
which claimed the right of eminent domain over Ken- 
tucky, and the Virginia government felt some hesitation 
about assuming any rights over this country. 

The authorities were perfectly willing to lend five hun- 
dred pounds of powder to their neighbors in Kentucky 



21 6 Border Fights and Fighters 

on the guarantee of Clark himself, but Clark was shrewd 
enough not to fall into a trap of this kind. He rejected 
their proffer and wrote them a brilliant letter in which he 
said that a country that was not worth defending was not 
worth claiming. This sharp intimation that he would 
endeavor to get help elsewhere brought the commission- 
ers to terms. Clark got the powder. It was his first suc- 
cess. Not only did he get it after the order had been 
given — and the two things were not synonymous, then; 
it was hard to get powder in those revolutionary days, 
since it w'as in so great demand — but he actually succeed- 
ed in getting it safely into the hands of the people. This 
in spite of savage attacks and perils of a journey wellnigh 
unsurmountable. He also succeeded, through his repre- 
sentations, in having Kentucky formed into a county 
of Virginia, and brought under the operation of the civil 
law of that state, a service of inestimable value. 

Meanwhile the British, in pursuance of their well-de- 
vised plan, continued to launch the savages on the backs 
of the Americans in the fond hope that they would thus 
be enabled to work their will with the harassed revolution- 
ists on the seaboard. Major Stuart and chiefs McGilli- 
vray and Oconostota raised the Creeks and Cherokees on 
one hand, while Lieutenant-Governor William Hamilton, 
of Detroit, who seems to have been one of the chief vil- 
lains in the plot, incited the Indians in the northwest to 
the war-path with great success. Campbell, Shelby, Se- 
vier and Robertson held them in check to the southwest; 
God raised up another leader to cover the frontier to the 
northward. 

It was hard living in Kentucky in those days, and the 
one man there who saw something else to do than fight 
recklessly and desperately when the savages came, the 



George Rogers Clark 217 

one man who divined how these forays might be stopped 
and who reahzed that in the stopping of them great bene- 
fits would accrue not merely to Kentucky, but to the 
United Colonies as well, was George Rogers Clark. 

He realized that the old French posts of Detroit, Kas- 
kaslvia, and Vincennes were the points from which the 
Indians secured the necessary supplies to carry on the 
war, as well as the stimulation which enabled them to 
sweep the borders. Securing information concerning 
their strength and weakness from two spies whom he 
sent out, he conceived the magnificent design of capturing 
these points, holding them, and thus establishing for the 
United States a claim to the great territory of the north- 
west. 

Neither he nor anyone else dreamed for a moment of 
the great, populous and wealthy states which were en- 
shrined potentially within that wilderness. No one 
could imagine that upon the barren shore of one of the 
lonely lakes tossing its fresh waters in the sunlight 
should presently rise the second city of the Union and 
one of the great cities of the world. How could he, or 
any one, anticipate the future growth of the struggling 
colonies? The boldest imagination could not compre- 
hend the possibility, much less the realization, of that 
great deluge of men, which, starting from the shores 
lapped by the ocean-tide, should break over the moun- 
tain-crest hitherto considered a natural boundary, and 
flood the wilderness until it reached the banks of the far- 
away Mississippi. And as for the empire beyond it over 
which the same tide rolls and still sweeps on, that was be- 
yond the most extravagant dream, even. Yet with in- 
stinctive prophetic vision something of this Titanic con- 
ception of national destiny seems to have come to this 
vouno- man. 



2i8 Border Fights and Fighters 



II. The First Success 

In 1777 he went back to Virginia and laid his daring 
project before Patrick Henry. The stupendousness of 
the idea impressed the sagacious old governor; he caused 
a council to be called to consider the suggestion of the 
borderer, a council composed of himself, Thomas Jeffer- 
son, George Mason, and George Wythe. To these men, 
Clark, not much more than a boy, just twenty-five years 
old in fact, expounded his plan. They realized at once 
what there was in it. Not merely the protection of the 
settlements south of the Ohio in Kentucky, not merely a 
check to Indian aggression, but the extension of the bor- 
ders of the United States to the Mississippi, the control 
of that vast territory between the mountains and the river. 
Room to grow, room to grow for thousands of years, 
they may have thought, instead of barely for a century. 
At any rate they approved the plan. 

Few more momentous councils have ever been held, 
although even now it is scarcely noticed in history. Clark 
was naturally selected to lead the expedition. He was 
given twelve hundred pounds in depreciated Virginia cur- 
rency, a commission as a colonel, an order for ammuni- 
tion at Fort Pitt, and authority to raise seven hundred 
and fifty men for three months' service where he could. 
Then they sent him out with their blessing and their good- 
will. Such were the inadequate means provided for this 
gigantic achievement. 

The plan was kept strictly secret by Clark and the four 
men who had determined upon it. His public instruc- 
tions from Patrick Henry ordered him to proceed to 
Kentucky and take measures for the defence of the col- 



George Rogers Clark 219 

onists with such troops as he could enlist. A private 
letter, however, authorized him to take and hold Kaskas- 
kia, Vincennes, and the whole northwest territory. 

Many difficulties beset the enlistment of his soldiers, 
but he finally succeeded in assembling several hundred 
men on Corn Island, at the Falls of the Ohio, opposite 
where is now the great city of Louisville. The thickly 
wooded island has since been stripped of its trees, and 
jA^ashed away by the rapid current. Many of his troops 
deserted from time to time, especially when they learned 
the real purpose for which they had been embodied, and 
he found himself left at last with about one hundred and 
fifty men ; and the time was approaching for them to start 
upon their projected expedition. 

He had chosen to camp upon this island because, on 
account of its isolation by the rapid falls, he could pre- 
vent further desertion. It was a good place, too, in 
which to drill and train the men in accordance with his 
limited experience. What he lacked in military training 
and technical knowledge he made up in zeal and innate 
capacity to command, and he soon got his little army 
under excellent control. 

A number of families which had followed him down 
the river settled on the island around a block-house which 
he built for their protection. Then he set forth to ac- 
complish his comprehensive purpose. He left his camp 
on the island on the 24th of June, 1778, and embarked 
his men, divided into four companies, in bateaux, rowing 
back up the river until he could gain the channel through 
the rapids, much more dangerous then than now, through 
which they made an exciting passage. 

The departure of the expedition was dramatic in the 
extreme. As the boats were whirled down the mighty 



220 Border Fights and Fighters 

river by the swift current, though it was early in the 
morning, the land was enshrouded in almost total dark- 
ness from an eclipse of the sun; a bad omen thought 
some of the party, but Clark was no believer in omens. 
For four days they swung down the river, reaching at last 
an abandoned French post called Fort Massac. It had 
been built by the garrison of Fort DuQuesne fleeing 
from the advance of Forbes in 1759.* 

There they were met by a party of hunters who had 
recently come from Kaskaskia, the capital and principal 
town of the province. They reported it to be lightly 
garrisoned and negligently guarded. Learning of the 
destination of the expedition, they asked Clark's permis- 
sion to join his party, for which one of them offered to act 
as guide. The offer was gladly accepted, and although 
the guide temporarily lost his way and was in imminent 
danger of death at the hands of the indignant and suspi- 
cious Americans, he proved his loyalty and gave them 
good service in the end. For six days the party marched 
westward over the prairie. They had no wagons or 
pack-horses, and no baggage except what each man car- 
ried himself, consequently their progress was unusually 
rapid. 

On the evening of the 4th of July they reached the 
east bank of the Kaskaskia River, opposite the town, 
undiscovered. Marching up the bank in the night they 
found a farm-house. They put the inmates under guard, 
seized the boats belonging to them, crossed the river, and 
marched down toward the town. The commander of the 
place was M. de Rocheblave, a Frenchman. The garri- 
son was made up of Creole militia. De Rocheblave had 
implored to have British regular troops sent him, but none 

* See my book Colonial Fights and Fighters. The Struggle for the 
Valley of the Ohio. 




/ 



George Rogers Clark 221 

had appeared. It was not thought possible that the post 
would be attacked by the Americans, and the King had 
use for his soldiers elsewhere. On that evening no one 
dreamed that the Kentucky pioneers were at hand. 

One dramatic account of the capture of the place says 
that Clark surrounded the town, disposing the greater 
portion of his troops so that none could escape from it, 
and with the rest marched silently toward the fort. The 
story goes that the officers were enjoying a dance at the 
time in one of the large rooms, and that Clark, admitted 
to the fort through the postern by one of his prisoners, 
left his men outside the barracks and then walked boldly 
into the room. No one happening to notice his entrance 
he stood quietly by the door, with an inborn love of the 
dramatic, folding his arms and looking grimly upon the 
scene of gayety. 

Presently an Indian caught sight of him and recognized 
an enemy, perhaps because of the buff and blue he wore, 
and rent the air with a terrific war-whoop. The women 
shrieked, the music stopped, and Clark, with tragic in- 
tensity, bade them go on with the dance, but to remem- 
ber that now they were to dance in honor of Virginia and 
of the United States, instead of Great Britain ! I take it 
that they were in no humor for further merriment. 
Whether the story be true or no, and some good authori- 
ties give it credence, the fact remains that the fort was 
surprised and captured without the loss of a man on either 
side. 

Clark was most anxious to get hold of the papers of the 
commander. One naive historian says that Madame de 
Rocheblave succeeded in concealing them in her bed- 
chamber, and that rather than violate the sanctity of her 
apartment and thus afTront her modesty, the American 
officers suffered her to do what she would with them. 



122 Border Fights and Fighters 

" Better," writes the gallant old chronicler, " better, 
yes, a thousand times better, were it so than that the 
ancient fame of the sons of Virginia should have been 
tarnished by insult to a female." 

It is a pity to spoil a pretty story, but the papers, at 
least an important portion of them, were forthcoming, 
however they were secured. The British relations with 
the savages were revealed in them ; the English guilt was 
clear. 

By this time the inhabitants of the town were in a great 
state of terror, and Clark purposely fostered it. He or- 
dered them to repair to their houses and stay there under 
pain of death, and they passed a night of anguished fore- 
boding. In the morning, permission being given, they 
came to him begging him to spare the lives of their 
wives and children, offering themselves as slaves in that 
contingency, to the American chief of the " Big Knives," 
as they called the Kentuckians. What was their joy and 
relief when Clark proclaimed that their lives would be 
spared, their property respected, and that all should en- 
joy freedom. While they were enthusiastic with this 
news, he invited their allegiance to the American cause, 
which it was not difficult to secure, in view of the great 
tidings which he brought them of the capture of Bur- 
goyne and the American alliance with France. 

Thereafter the French and Americans were indeed 
brethren. Their mourning was turned into joy and they 
made haste to hoist the stars and stripes which, for the 
first time, July 5th, 1778, floated near the waters of the 
Mississippi. Cahokia received the Americans in the same 
ardent way, and the conquest of the northwest, so far as 
they were concerned, was complete. In October, 1778, 
Virginia inaugurated the first civil government in the 



George Rogers Clark 113 

northwest by establishing the County of Illinois, compre- 
hending all the new territory beyond the Ohio, with 
Colonel John Todd as Governor, and Clark as supreme 
and independent military commander. 

There yet remained of the British posts to be dealt 
with, Vincennes and Detroit, before the conquest of the 
country could be called complete, the former being of 
more present importance because nearer. Among the 
inhabitants of Kaskaskia was a certain Roman priest 
named Father Gibault, whom Clark, with finer regard for 
euphony than spelling, referred to in his letters as " Mr. 
Jeboth." This devoted French missionary agreed to go 
to Vincennes, which was at that time without a garrison, 
to secure the allegiance of the populace to the new gov- 
ernment and new flag. He faithfully fulfilled his com- 
mission, and the French residents willingly assented to 
the change of government, and hoisted the American flag 
over the fort, which they subsequently delivered to Cap- 
tain Leonard Helm, who was appointed commandant and 
Indian agent at the post by Clark. 

Meanwhile Clark administered the military affairs of 
the province of Illinois wath great vigor, by his resolution 
and tact compelling the Indians to bury the hatchet and 
make peace, which obtained for a considerable period. 
For the first time in years Kentucky and the borders of 
Virginia were comparatively free from war-parties. The 
settlers could lay aside the rifle and ply the axe and speed 
the plough in safety. 

Clark's methods of dealing with the Indians were al- 
ways fine. He knew that kindness and gentleness would 
be taken by them as indications of weakness. Therefore 
he was boldness itself toward them. Years afterward, 
while making a treaty with several hostile tribes, he over- 



224 Border Fights and Fighters 

awed them and compelled them to make peace in the 
following way: 

Some three hundred hostile Indians in full war-paint 
met him in council at Fort Washington. Clark had sev- 
enty men in the stockade. The Shawnees were arrogant, 
boastful and full of fight. They came into the council- 
house with a war-belt and a peace-belt. Throwing them 
both on the table they told Clark to take his choice. He 
swept them both to the floor with his cane, rose to his 
feet, stamped contemptuously upon them, and sternly 
telling the Indians to make peace instantly or he would 
wipe them off the face of the earth, ordered them to leave 
the hall. They fled his presence, debated all night, swal- 
lowed the insult, and buried the hatchet. 

III. "The Hair-Buyer General" 

There lived at Detroit at this time a certain British 
officer named William Hamilton, who occupied the im- 
portant position of Lieutenant-Governor of the province. 
History has written severe indictments against this man. 
There are still in existence letters in which his employ- 
ment of Indians to carry on " civilized " warfare is proved 
beyond doubt. He is accused of having offered rewards 
for American scalps and of having paid them, and the 
facts are indisputable. Early in 1778, he wrote to Carle- 
ton, governor of Quebec, that a party of Indians had just 
come into Detroit with seventy-three prisoners and one 
hundred and twenty-nine scalps! On the i6th of Sep- 
tember in the same year, he wrote to Haldimand, who 
had superseded Carleton, that another party had arrived 
bringing twenty-nine prisoners and eighty-nine scalps. 
Among these scalps were many that had been wrenched 
from the heads of women and children ! 



George Rogers Clark 225 

This subornation of savagery is the most dastardly ac- 
tion by which a brave soldier can ruin his reputation. To 
employ ruthless Indians to prey upon women and chil- 
dren and defenceless non-combatants is the act of a vil- 
lain and a coward. There is this to be said in explana- 
tion, though not in justification, of Hamilton's action, 
that he acted under orders of his government, upon 
which the odium primarily rests; but orders or not, no 
man should ever commit such a crime. Rather should he 
surrender his commission. No, Hamilton's course is in- 
defensible. The blood of innocent women and children 
is upon him. 

When Hamilton heard, as he did presently, of Clark at 
Kaskaskia, and that he had raised the American flag at 
Vincennes, he determined to march down the Wabash 
from Detroit, retake Vincennes and then proceed west- 
ward and capture Clark. With a motley force of Indians 
together with thirty British regulars, and fifty Canadian 
volunteers from Detroit, he appeared before Fort Sack- 
ville, Vincennes, on December 17th, 1778. The French 
militia of the garrison at once fled to their homes and 
left the defence of the fort to the redoubtable Helm and 
one valiant soldier named Moses Henry. 

Helm, of course, could make no defence of the dilapi- 
dated stockade, but he had partaken in large measure of 
the spirit of Clark He resolved to bluff. Clark was the 
greatest bluffer in the history of the northwest. He was 
always willing to make good so far as he could, but gen- 
erally he had so little force that he accomplished his ends 
by his assurance. Helm was like him. He charged the 
one serviceable cannon he possessed to the muzzle, ran it 
out at the gate of the post, placed his solitary soldier by 
it with a blazing match, and swore to Hamilton, who had 



226 Border Fights and Fighters 

demanded his surrender, that no man should enter the fort 
until he knew what terms would be granted him. 

Inspired by his dauntless bearing, and ignorant of the 
force with which he might have to contend, and with the 
added argument of a loaded cannon trained upon his 
troops, Hamilton agreed that the garrison should march 
out with the honors of war, if they would surrender. 
Withdrawing the match. Helm and Moses marched out 
solemnly between the disgusted British and Indians, and 
Hamilton got the fort. He retained Helm as prisoner, 
but the genial quahties of the jovial American won the 
affections of his captors, and his imprisonment was a light 
one. 

A more vigorous commander than Hamilton would 
have immediately pushed on to Kaskaskia and completed 
the conquest of the country by capturing Clark, but 
Hamilton, satisfied with his expedition so far, and de- 
terred by the wretched weather, the lateness of the season, 
the difficulties of the way, concluded to wait until the 
spring-time. 

He did detach a party of Indians and rangers to attempt 
to abduct the American commander, if they could find 
him, but beyond alarming the inhabitants of Kaskaskia 
they effected nothing. Clark was soon apprised by his 
scouts of the capture of Vincennes. This was a serious 
blow to the project he had formed. How to meet it was 
a question. He was not yet informed of Hamilton's fur- 
ther intentions, nor was he in possession of accurate in- 
formation as to the force of the garrison which the British 
held at the post. 

To him, in his uncertainty, in the latter part of Jan- 
uary, 1779, came one Francis Vigo. Vigo was a Sardin- 
ian, born at Mondovi, before the middle of the seven- 



George Rogers Clark aay 

teenth century. He had been an officer in the Spanish 
army, and in that capacity had come to America. He had 
resigned his command and entered upon the business of 
a trader, hunter, etc., with head-quarters at St. Louis, 
where he had amassed a large fortune. He was a man of 
Hberal and enHghtened views, and had extended a hearty 
hospitahty to Clark when he arrived in that country. He 
had done more than that. He had accepted the depre- 
ciated Virginia currency at par, and by giving it his coun- 
tenance, had made it pass current among the natives. He 
had cashed Clark's drafts for large sums, and in fact it is 
difficult to see how the expedition could have succeeded 
without him. 

He had gone on a trading expedition to Vincennes, 
where he had been captured and brought before Hamil- 
ton. Hamilton had no authority to hold a Spanish sub- 
ject, and he had released him on parole, requiring him to 
report daily at the fort. The inhabitants of Vincennes, 
with whom Vigo was a great favorite, protested so vig- 
orously against his detention, going to the length of re- 
fusing to supply the fort with provisions unless he were 
immediately released, that at last their efforts prevailed 
to secure his freedom. He had refused to be enlarged 
on condition of his doing nothing to prejudice British in- 
terests during the war, and Hamilton was forced to let 
him go on his promising to do nothing to hinder the 
cause of British arms on his way to St. Louis. 

Vigo strictly kept his agreement. He passed the 
mouth of the Kaskaskia without stopping, and repaired 
to his home in St, Louis. Having now kept his prom- 
ise to the letter, he took horse and made his way with all 
speed to Kaskaskia, where he arrived on the 29th of Jan- 
uary, 1779. There he acquainted Clark with the state of 



228 Border Fights and Fighters 

affairs in Vincennes. Hamilton had dismissed all his 
Indian allies for the winter, and held the fort with eighty 
white troops. It was his purpose, however, so Vigo in- 
formed Clark, to assemble them all in the spring-time, 
and with heavy re-enforcements from Detroit, march to 
the Illinois country. In that case there would be little 
hope of a successful resistance. 

What was to be done? It was mid-winter. Could 
the Americans march to capture Vincennes then? To 
wait for spring and the British to come was to give up 
all. Clark at once determined upon an immediate attack. 
He " flung his gauntlet in the face of Fate and assumed 
the offensive." He would not wait for pleasant weather 
to bring Hamilton and his horde upon him, he would 
carry the war into Indiana at once. I do not suppose he 
had ever heard of Scipio Africanus, but his methods were 
those advocated by the famous Roman. 

Fort Sackville had been thoroughly repaired and put 
into a complete state of defence by Hamilton, It was 
provided with artillery and manned by a garrison suf- 
ficient to hold it against any force which Clark could pos- 
sibly assemble. Nevertheless the American determined 
upon its capture. The day that he received the news 
from Vigo was the real crucial moment of the expedi- 
tion, and it is not too much to say that the history of the 
northwest territory turned upon his decision. 

To anticipate the course of events a little, France and 
Spain in the negotiations for peace at the close of the war 
were only too anxious to limit the western boundary of 
the United States to the Alleghenies, a desire which Eng- 
land naturally shared. Spain bent all the resources of a 
diplomacy by no means insignificant to bring about this 
result. The one argument by which Franklin and his 



George Rogers Clark 229 

fellow-counsellors were able to insist that the western 
boundary should be the Mississippi and not the Alleghe- 
nies, was the fact that the country had been conquered by 
Clark, retained by him, and was now actually in the 
power of the United States. That conquest would not 
have been complete, however, and the retention impos- 
sible, if Hamilton had been left in possession of Vin- 
cennes. Therefore it was not only for his own safety, 
not only to hold Kaskaskia, but in order that he might 
establish a valid claim to the whole great territory that 
Clark determined upon action. 

IV. The Terrible March 

He made his preparations with the same promptitude 
as he made his decision. A large bateaux which he called 
the Willing was hastily improvised, loaded with provisions 
and supplies, and provided with two pieces of artillery 
and four swivels. Captain Rogers, a kinsman of the gen- 
eral, was placed in command with forty men and ordered 
to make all haste via the Mississippi, the Ohio and the 
Wabash, to an appointed rendezvous near Vincennes. 

Clark, with the balance of his officers and men and two 
companies of French Creoles, who volunteered to accom- 
pany him, commanded respectively by Captains McCarty 
and Charleville, made ready to march overland. Clark's 
original force had been reduced to one hundred men. 
By pleadings and promises he had induced that number 
to remain with him after their three months' term of en- 
listment had expired. These he took with him. The Cre- 
ole additions raised the total force to one hundred and 
seventy, with a few pack-horses to carry the scanty sup- 
plies they could procure. 

They set forth on the 4th of February, 1779, so rapid 



230 Border Fights and Fighters 

had been their preparations, upon one of the most mem- 
orable marches ever undertaken under the American flag. 
One hundred and forty miles as the crow flies, and some 
two hundred over the usual trail lay between him and his 
destination. The only undertaking in our history that 
can be compared to it is Arnold's march up the Kennebec 
to attack Quebec. The weather was cold, damp and 
rainy. The season had been a very wet one, and the 
prairies were turned into lakes and quagmires. They 
marched as rapidly as possible over the desolate, damp, 
wind-swept plains. Every river and creek they passed 
was in full flood and presented serious obstacles, until, on 
the 15th of February, they came to the two forks of the 
little Wabash. Ordinarily there is a distance of three 
miles between the two channels. Now the whole coun- 
try lay under water, icy cold at that, for five miles to the 
opposite hills. There were no roads, no boats. The 
provisions they had carried were nearly exhausted. The 
game had been driven away by the floods, and they were 
without food or fire. 

Plunging into the icy water Clark led his men, carry- 
ing their rifles and powder-horns above their heads, over 
the bottoms until they reached the channel of the river. 
They had built a rude canoe and a small raft on the bank, 
and now standing up to their waists in water — in some 
places it was up to their necks — they removed the bag- 
gage from the pack-horses, ferried it across one channel, 
built a rude scaffold of drift-wood and logs upon which 
they stowed it; swam the horses over the second channel, 
loaded them again, drove them through the flood until 
they reached the other fork of the river, where they re- 
peated the process, and at last got on emergent though 
water-soaked ground. The passage took two days, dur- 



George Rogers Clark 231 

ing which they had no opportunity to rest. No one had 
a dry thread upon him. Orders were given to fire no 
ginis except in case of dire necessity, for fear of giving 
alarm to the enemy they hoped to surprise. Provisions 
were lower than ever. 

The next day they marched along through the water, 
resting for the night upon a damp hill, and on the 17th 
they reached a river, well called the Embarrass, which 
flows into the Wabash a short distance below Vincennes. 
Here they found a more serious condition prevailing. 
Both rivers had overflowed, and as far as they could see 
was a waste of water. They sent out parties to look for 
the Willing, to find fords, to secure boats, anything. No 
success attended their efforts. 

Meanwhile they set to work to make canoes. They 
were hterally starving, having had no provisions of any 
sort for two days ! That day they captured a canoe with 
some Frenchmen in it, who had been sent out of the 
fort to scout. These they detained as prisoners. The 
Frenchmen added to their discouragement by informing 
them that the whole country around Vincennes was over- 
flow^ed, and it would be impossible for the Americans to 
reach the fort. Clark, however, pushed on down the 
bank of the Embarrass until he reached the Wabash. 

At this juncture one of the men shot a deer, which was 
divided among the one hundred and seventy and fur- 
nished them with the first food they had had for over two 
days! It was a scanty allotment for so many starved, 
half-drowned men, but it put new heart into them, and 
they determined to press on. Indeed, that determination 
was never out of Clark's mind. 

In the canoes they had made as best they could they 
crossed the Wabash on the 2ist. 



232 Border Fights and Fighters 

At this juncture the spirit of some of the Creoles gave 
out, and they wanted to return. The desire to retreat 
was communicated even to the Kentuckians, and the 
whole enterprise trembled in the balance. Clark, how- 
ever, was equal to the occasion. The story goes that in 
one of the companies there was a big six-foot two-inch 
sergeant, from Virginia. A little drummer-boy, whose 
antics and froHcs had greatly amused the men, was 
mounted on the shoulders of the tall sergeant. By 
Clark's command, the drummer beat the charge, while 
the sergeant marched into the water. 

" Forward! " thundered the commander, plunging into 
the icy flood. The men laughed, hesitated, and followed 
to the last man. That night they rested on a hill, lying 
in their soaked clothes without provisions or fire. 

For two more days they struggled on through the 
waters until on the 23rd they were fortunate enough to 
capture a canoe with some Indian squaws in it, in which 
they found a quarter of buffalo and some other pro- 
visions. Broth was soon made and given to the most 
exhausted of the little band. Some of the hardier men 
refused their portions and generously gave them to 
their weaker brethren. 

At this time they had drawn near enough to Vin- 
cennes to hear Fort Sackville's morning and evening 
guns. They were so near, in fact, that they expected to 
attack that night. 

When they began the final march in water varying in 
depth from breast to neck, Clark took another method 
for putting heart into any recalcitrants. He detached 
Captain Bowman, his best officer, with twenty men, and 
told them to bring up the rear and to shoot the first man 
who faltered. No one did so. They struggled on 



George Rogers Clark 133 

throughout the morning in the most desperate of straits. 
The water was covered wdth a thin coating of ice, which 
they broke as they plunged in. They had managed to 
get together a number of canoes by this time, and into 
these they put the weaker men. They suffered horribly. 
Clark himself, in spite of his resolute will and magnificent 
strength, almost gave way. Finally about one o'clock 
they reached an elevation about two miles from the town. 
It was covered with trees, and from their shelter, them- 
selves unseen, they could examine at their leisure the 
goal of their endeavors. 

The terrific march of these iron men was over. For the 
last ten days they had been struggling through water and 
ice. They had enjoyed neither fire nor rest. Three or 
four scanty meals had served them during that awful pe- 
riod. They dried themselves as best they could in the 
cold sunshine, revelling in anticipations of the meal which 
they hoped they could get if they ever succeeded in 
capturing the place. Clark now hesitated; should he 
fall on the town at once, or should he first attempt to se- 
cure the neutrality of the people, w^hich he believed he 
could do without difficulty? He wisely decided for the 
latter plan. By one of his French prisoners he despatched 
the following crafty letter : 

" To the Inhabitants of Post St. Vincents: 

" Gentlemen : — Being now within two miles of your 
village with my army, determined to take your fort this 
night, and not being willing to surprise you, I take this 
method to request such of you as are true citizens, and 
willing to enjoy the liberty I bring you, to remain still in 
your houses. And those, if any there be, that are friends 
to the King, will instantly repair to the fort and join the 
Hair-Biiycr General"^ and fight like men. And if any 

* Alluding to the fact that Gov. Hamilton had offered rewards for the 
scalps of Americans. 



234 Border Fights and Fighters 

such, as do not go to the fort shall be discovered after- 
wards, they may depend on severe punishment. On 
the contrary, those that are true friends to liberty, may 
depend on being well treated. And I once more request 
them to keep out of the streets; for every one I find in 
arms on my arrival, I shall treat as an enemy. 

" G. R. Clark." 

Hamilton and his officers had carried things with a 
high hand, and the inhabitants were rejoiced at the ap- 
proach of the Americans. Nobody appears to have be- 
trayed them to the British commander, who was yet in 
total ignorance of their proximity. He had sent out Cap- 
tain La Mothe to scout, and the party, surrounded by the 
floods, had not come back. Clark waited until nightfall, 
divided his army into three companies, in order to sur- 
round the post, and then marched forward to the attack. 

V. The Capture of Vincennes 

Fort Sackville was an irregular enclosure, the sides 
varying in length from sixty to two hundred feet, and en- 
closing some three acres of ground. The stockade was 
stoutly built of logs about eleven feet high. The garri- 
son was ample, and there were several pieces of artillery 
and swivels mounted on the walls. It was strong enough 
to have bidden defiance to one hundred and seventy 
starved and half-drowned troops without artillery of any 
kind, but it did not. 

It is to Clark's credit that he refused to allow the 
Piankeshaw Indians, who were there in large numbers, 
and who volunteered their services, to take part in the at- 
tack. Marching silently through the town Clark sur- 
rounded the fort, which stood on the bank of the river, 
the men taking cover behind houses and trees. He 



George Rogers Clark 235 

quickly threw up a slight breastwork in front of the 
gate of the stockade, and announced his presence by 
opening a smart rifle fire. 

It is related that Captain Helm and Colonel Hamilton 
sat in the latter's head-quarters playing cards while a bowl 
of apple toddy was brewing before the fire. Having 
learned from the French inhabitants which were Hamil- 
ton's head-quarters, some of the Kentuckians, in sport, 
opened fire upon the chimney, surmising that that bowl 
of apple toddy would be brewing beneath it. As the rifles 
cracked, some of the plaster fell into the apple toddy as 
they had intended. 

" That's Clark," said Helm, " but d— n him, he needn't 
have spoiled my toddy ! " 

The garrison were even yet so unsuspecting that they 
imagined that the firing was caused by some drunken Ind- 
ians, and it was not until a sergeant was struck in the 
breast by a bullet and seriously wounded that they awa- 
kened to the situation. There was a beating of drums and 
a hurrying to arms, and through the night a smart fire 
was kept up between the contending parties, the British 
blazing away fruitlessly in every direction, the Americans, 
who were scantily provided with powder, husbanding 
their fire and endeavoring to make every shot tell. Noth- 
ing had yet been seen of the Willing, and the supply of 
powder on the American side was perilously low. Fortu- 
nately they procured enough from one of the friendly in- 
habitants to keep up the engagement. From the same 
friendly source they also got a good breakfast, which was 
as useful almost as the powder. 

Learning from the inhabitants that Captain La Mothe's 
party was still at large, and being desirous of capturing the 
British force intact, Clark withdrew some of his men dur- 



236 Border Fights and Fighters 

ing the night, and left the way open for La Mothe to enter 
the fort, which he did, the Americans by their command- 
er's orders withholding their fire. Clark was sure that he 
had them all then. When the morning came the sur- 
prised Hamilton found himself completely surrounded by 
the besiegers, of whose numbers he was entirely ignorant, 
although the fact that they were there at all was evidence 
of their quality. The firing was kept up with such effect 
by the rifles of the Kentuckians that it became impossible 
for the British to serve the guns. As soon as a port-hole 
was opened a stream of bullets was poured into it. The 
condition of the British was serious, so they thought at 
any rate. 

Early in the morning Clark sent the following peremp- 
tory letter to Hamilton : 

" Sir. — In order to save yourself from the impending 
storm that now threatens you, I order you immediately 
to surrender yourself, with all your garrison, stores, etc., 
etc., etc. For if I am obliged to storm, you may depend 
on such treatment as is justly due to a murderer. Beware 
of destroying stores of any kind, or any papers, or letters, 
that are in your possession; for, by Heavens, if you do, 
there shall be no mercy shown you. 

" G. R. Clark." 

To this he received the following reply : 

" Governor Hamilton begs leave to acquaint Colonel 
Clark that he and his garrison are not disposed to be 
awed into an action unworthy of British subjects." 

Nevertheless by this time the British were badly scared, 
and after another interchange of shots Hamilton asked 
first for a truce of three days and then for a parley. 
Finally a meeting was appointed. Hamilton, attended 
by Major Hay, his second, and Captain Helm, his pris- 



George Rogers Clark 237 

oner, met Clark. The American general was furious. 
He refused to listen to any proposed arrangements. It 
was surrender at discretion, or nothing at all. It was 
many long years after that day that a certain little man 
from Illinois made the world ring with the phrase " Un- 
conditional Surrender," yet that was the purport and 
nearly the wording of Clark's terms. 

He vowed he would put to death any Indian partisans 
in Hamilton's command, and when asked whom he meant, 
replied that Major Hay had been one of those who had 
led war-parties against the settlements. When Helm at- 
tempted to interfere and say a word in favor of the Brit- 
ish, Clark sternly silenced him, telling him as a prisoner 
he had no right to discuss the matter. Hamilton prompt- 
ly offered to release Helm, and Clark with equal prompt- 
ness refused to accept him then. Hamilton begged hard 
for other conditions, but the inflexible American, regard- 
ing him also as a murderer as well as a coward, would 
grant no terms. Therefore Hamilton returned to the 
fort, having been given an hour to make up his mind. 

A party of Indians friendly to the English, who had 
been on a scalp hunt, came back during the morning with 
the ghastly trophies of their prowess hanging at their 
belts; one scalp was that of a woman. Ignorant of the 
presence of the Americans, they ran right into their arms, 
and two were killed, two were wounded, and six captured. 
While the conference between Clark and Hamilton was 
going on, the six captured Indians were taken out before 
the fort, where the garrison could see them, summarily 
tomahawked, and their bodies cast into the river. Clark 
was not actually present when the savage and bloody rep- 
aration was taken, but it was by his orders, and he was re- 
sponsible. Hamilton was unable to resist the clamor of 



238 Border Fights and Fighters 

the garrison after this sight and, upon Clark's final agree- 
ment to treat them as prisoners of war, he surrendered the 
fort at discretion. 

The next morning the British marched out and deliv- 
ered their arms to the Americans, who marched in and 
hoisted the stars and stripes for the second time in In- 
diana. The Americans fired a salute of thirteen guns 
from the British cannon. During the progress of the sa- 
lute twenty cartridges for the six-pound guns blew up and 
wounded some of the Kentuckians. Among them was 
the brave Captain Bowman, who died several months 
after, it is believed, from injuries received in this disaster. 

Save one wounded soldier these were the only casual- 
ties on the American side in the expedition. The loss in 
killed and wounded on the part of the British was also 
small. The Willing came up soon after, and Captain 
Bowman was sent forward with a party of soldiers to 
intercept a convoy of provisions and supplies from De- 
troit, which he did in a handsome manner, capturing 
everybody in the escort. 

The campaign was ended. The English plans to re- 
possess Indiana and Illinois failed in every direction ; in- 
deed, save for one abortive attempt, nothing further was 
done to dislodge the Americans. On the other hand, 
Clark could never assemble sufificient force to enable him 
to take Detroit, which was the sole position held by the 
British at the end of the war; with that exception the 
country remained in his possession. 

VI. Forgotten ! 

Clark performed other services during the war; finding 
himself on one occasion in Virginia when Arnold invaded 
it, he joined Von Steuben as a volunteer, and fought gal- 
lantly under him. Virginia promoted him to be a briga- 



George Rogers Clark 239 

dier-general, and presented him with a sword, which, by 
the way, owing to the straitened finances caused by the 
war, w^as a second-hand one, ahhough the best that could 
be procured at the time. Clark continued in the service 
of the state, headed several expeditions against the Ind- 
ians, got himself mixed up with the Spanish authorities 
and had his actions disavowed by the United States, and 
was finally dismissed the Virginia service, on the plea of 
poverty, which was true enough. 

He had never enjoyed a commission in the Continental 
service, and the dismissal left him without employment. 
The remainder of his long life is a sad story of disappoint- 
ment and neglect. He was still a young man, and his years 
might have been filled with valuable service to his coun- 
try. His marvellous campaign had evidenced his quali- 
ties, but he became so embittered by the ungrateful treat- 
ment he had received that he fell into bad habits. He 
drank to excess. He had no w4fe or children, and lived 
alone for many years, hunting, fishing, and indulging his 
appetite with such of his old friends or comrades as 
chanced to visit his cabin, which w-as erected on a six- 
thousand-acre grant of land Virginia made to him when 
she ceded the northwest territory to the United States. 
He was land-poor and lonely. 

Four years before he died he was stricken with paraly- 
sis. He was alone in his cabin at the time and fell into 
the fire, which so severely burned one leg that it had to be 
amputated. It is related that he desired a fife and a drum 
to be played outside the house wdiile the operation was 
being performed. It was before the days of ansesthetics, 
and the grim old soldier sat in his chair and had his leg 
taken off without an expression of emotion, while mar- 
tial music was being dinned in his ears. He found a home 
in his last helpless years in the house of his sister, Mrs. 



240 Border Fights and Fighters 

Croghan, opposite Louisville, and there quietly slept 
away his life on February 13, 1818. He did much and 
suffered much — we may forgive him the rest. 

There is a story that when his means were at last ex- 
hausted, and he could not obtain any settlement of his 
just claim against the state, he thrust the sword which 
Virginia had presented to him in the ground, broke it off 
at the hilt, and threw the pieces away with the bitter re- 
mark, " When Virginia wanted a sword, I gave her mine. 
Now she sends me a toy. I want bread ! " In his pa- 
ralysis, the state, leaving his claims still unsettled, seems to 
have sent him another sword ! 

Years after his death the tardy government of the 
United States settled his claim against it for the expenses 
incurred in his heroic campaigning, in which he had ex- 
hausted all his private fortune. It was not until 1877 
that the claim of the heirs of Francis Vigo for a portion 
of the money which he had given to assist the northwest 
territory was allowed ! As Vigo left no wife or children 
the money was paid to collateral heirs. Even poor old 
Father Gibault, who had done such good service in secur- 
ing Vincennes and had given his own little property to 
Clark, in the endeavor to circulate the depreciated paper 
of the government, died in abject poverty, unrequited. 

I do not know a more heroic achievement in our his- 
tory than Clark's capture of Vincennes. I do not know 
in our history of greater results from slenderer means than 
Clark's subjugation of the northwest. I do not know in 
our history a sadder picture than the broken, paralyzed 
old man, alone in his cabin; and lastly, I do not recall in 
any history a more moving example of national ingrat- 
itude than that experienced by the priest, the Spaniard, 
and the soldier. 



Part V 
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 

II 

Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison 



TECUMSEH AND WILLIAM HENRY 
HARRISON 

I. The Greatest of the Indians 

TO decide who is the greatest man of a race, a na- 
tion, or a period, is by no means easy; and any 
determination that may be arrived at, is Hkely to 
find as many opponents as advocates. Yet I am of the 
opinion that mature reflection will concede the fullest 
measure of greatness among the red men to Tecumseh. 
In four centuries of American history, at least three, 
and possibly four, Indians may be called great, even 
when measured by civilized standards. Joseph Brandt, 
or Thayendenegea, the Iroquois, who is the possible 
fourth, but who would popularly be considered first, may 
not be taken as a fair representative of his race, for he was 
educated and his character formed by civiHzed influence, 
though the results of this influence — from the stand-point 
of civilization — were not always apparent. To be sure he 
was no worse than, in fact not half so bad as, many of 
his British conternporaries. But the three pure-blooded 
Indians who became what they were in the natural savage 
environment of their race and time, stand far above this 
veneered Iroquois in character, purpose, or achievement. 
The third in degree was the first in point of time. Met- 
acomet, the Wampanoag, known as King Philip, was the 
engineer of that formidable conspiracy which had as its 
object the sweeping of the English into the sea. and as its 

243 



244 Border Fights and Fighters 

hope the clearing of the new land of those European in- 
vaders with whom the savage chief found himself en- 
gaged in a struggle of life or death to his race. 

King Philip belonged to the Algonquin family. Near- 
ly a hundred years after his death in 1676, Pontiac, the 
great war-chief of the Ottawas, born a Catawba, and 
therefore of the Mobilian family, launched his formidable 
conspiracy upon the English posts from Fort Pitt to 
Michilimackinac in 1763. Although he captured eight 
forts out of the twelve attacked, and inaugurated a cam- 
paign of devastation and horror upon the borders of the 
northwest, he failed at Detroit, and in the end was assassi- 
nated by a hired traitor belonging to a petty Illinois tribe. 

Tecumseh, the greatest of the trio and the man who 
stands higher than any Indian who ever lived, had a deep- 
er view of the situation. While perhaps not so romantic 
as King Philip, nor so bold and fierce as Pontiac, he was 
the one solitary Indian who had, in addition to the tra- 
ditional characteristics of a warrior, the qualities of a 
statesman. Philip fought to drive the English into the 
sea. Pontiac to restore the supremacy of the French in 
the land. With these two, war was the end and aim of 
their conspiracies. In the case of Tecumseh, it was the 
inevitable result of his endeavor, but it was not its pri- 
mary object. 

With a discernment and prescience which would not 
have been out of place in a modern philosopher, Tecum- 
seh realized that the object of the struggle, as well as the 
advantage of the situation, lay in the possession of the 
land. 

He declared that the land occupied by the diflferent 
tribes of Indians belonged to them all in common; that 
they could only hold it in severalty as tenants; that each 



Tecumseh and Harrison 245 

tribe had title to the land it actually occupied, only while 
it occupied it ; and that no cession of territory of whatso- 
ever degree could be made to the white man by any tribe 
for any purpose, without the general consent of all the 
tribes! To enforce this profound and catholic princi- 
ple, and to make it operative, he formed a league of the 
Trans-Allegheny tribes, extending from the Great Lakes 
to the Gulf of Mexico. 

He, and he alone, seems to have discerned the folly, 
from the Indian point of view, of the alienation by partic- 
ular tribes of vast bodies of land to the Americans. He 
saw that in a very short time there would be no foot of 
land owned by the Indian on the hither side of the Mis- 
sissippi, hence the league. This evidences his capacity, 
his genius, and his title to pre-eminence. Alone of all the 
Indians he entertained this idea and he came perilously 
near putting it into operation. Had he been a Greek, a 
Roman, a Frenchman, a German, or an Englishman he 
would have been called a patriot and a hero. James Par- 
ton says of him : 

" Every race produces superior individuals, whose lives 
constitute its heroic ages. Investigation establishes that 
Tecumseh, though not the faultless ideal of a patriot 
prince that romantic story represents him, was all of a pa- 
triot, a hero, a man, that an Indian can be. If to con- 
ceive a grand, difficult, and unselfish project; to labor for 
many years with enthusiasm and prudence in attempting 
its execution; to enlist in it by the magnetism of personal 
influence great multitudes of various tribes; to contend 
for it with unfaltering valor longer than there was hope 
of success; and to die fighting for it to the last, falling for- 
ward toward the enemy covered with wounds, is to give 
proof of an heroic cast of character, then is the Shaw^nee 



246 Border Fights and Fighters 

chief, Tecumseh, in whose veins flowed no blood that was 
not Indian, entitled to rank among Heroes." 

General William Henry Harrison adds this testimony 
to his character and abilities : 

" He was one of those uncommon geniuses which 
spring up occasionally to produce revolutions, and over- 
turn the established order of things. If it were not for 
the vicinity of the United States, he would, perhaps, be 
the founder of an empire that would rival in glory Mexico 
or Peru. No difficulties deter him. For four years he 
has been in constant motion. You see him to-day on the 
Wabash, and in a short time hear of him on the shores of 
Lake Erie or Michigan, or on the banks of the Missis- 
sippi ; and wherever he goes he makes an impression 
favorable to his purposes." 

Three boys were born at a single birth in the latter part 
of the eighteenth century, date uncertain, near where is 
now Springfield, Ohio. Their father was a Shawnee (Al- 
gonquin) and their mother a captive Creek (Mobilian). 
Thus they represented in their own persons the great eth- 
nic divisions of the Indian race, a fact of no little import- 
ance in their subsequent career. 

One of the trio may be dismissed from consideration, 
since nothing is known of him but his name. The eldest 
of the triplets was called Tecumthe, at least this appears 
to be the approved orthography, but he has gone into 
history under the name of Tecumseh, and it is not now 
worth while to change it. His name means " the wild 
cat that leaps upon his prey." He is described as a tall, 
athletic, handsome man, of noble and commanding pres- 
ence. To his well-earned reputation as a warrior was 
added a fluent and persuasive oratory. Although he was 
not born a chief he easily raised himself to a position of 



Tecumseh and Harrison 247 

general leadership by his talents. He was a formidable 
foeman indeed. 

The second child was known as " the Prophet;" his 
Indian name being Elkswatawa, the word signifying " the 
man wdth the loud voice." It is probable that neither of 
these names was bestowed upon the boys until advancing 
years had given their elders some inkling of their charac- 
ters. Indeed, it is asserted that Elkswatawa was a drunk- 
en, dissolute vagabond in his early years, and for his ca- 
pacity for imbibing liquors was formerly known as " The 
Open Door." He had lost an eye in some drunken brawl 
which did not improve his sly and sinister cast of counte- 
nance. His brother, it is supposed, finally reformed him. 
That is, he outwardly reformed him. Elkswatawa quit 
drinking and abandoned his wicked courses, but the fund 
of lies with which he had been charged was got rid of so 
slowly that he never exhausted his stock. He had noth- 
ing whatever of the nobility of soul, the breadth of 
thought, or the depth of intellect of Tecumseh, yet he was 
shrewd, cunning, and in his way, capable. 

He lent to the league the element of the supernatural. 
He gave to the plan of Tecumseh the sanction of religion. 
He posed as the prophet of the new undertaking of which 
Tecumseh was the leader. And because he was small in 
character and did not measure up to the greatness of his 
brother, by his folly he gave the opportunity by which the 
blow was dealt that broke up what was undoubtedly the 
most formidable savage confederacy with which the 
American border was ever menaced. It is probable, in- 
deed, that he finally imposed upon himself, and believing 
in his ow^n prophecies, was thereby " hoist by his own 
petard ! " 

Exhibiting a remarkable degree of patience and self- 



-248 Border Fights and Fighters 

restraint, for several years Tecumseh worked at his plans 
with indefatigable energy, travelling from one end of the 
country to the other and gradually organizing the tribes 
into his confederacy, and impressing upon them his great 
idea. The Indian character is not favorable to such con- 
federacies or combinations, but had it not been for the 
precipitate action of the prophet it is possible that Te- 
cumseh might have met with so large a measure of success 
in his attempts as to have changed the history of the bor- 
der to a great degree. 

II. The Protagonist of the League 

It is a singular fact that the whole scheme tumbled to 
pieces like a house of cards, at a single bloody touch in 
the northwest, although in the south there was a long 
and hard-fought war, especially with the Creeks, which 
was entirely due to the efforts of the great Shawnee. The 
man who shrewdly took advantage of Tecumseh's absence 
and the folly of Elkswatawa, to break up the league, and 
finally to cause the death of the great chieftain, was Will- 
iam Henry Harrison. The history of three years was a 
sort of duel between the two, with the northwest territory, 
as the reward of success; and, as is alv>^ays the case, the 
white man won. 

It is only of late that the reason for the importance in 
which the battles of Tippecanoe and the Thames have 
been held instinctively by the people of the central west 
has come to light. They were small affairs, as battles go, 
though gallantly fought on both sides, but their conse- 
quences were far-reaching ; the one broke up the scheme, 
the other removed the schemer! 

If Tecumseh could have matured his plans without mo- 



Tecumseh and Harrison 249 

lestation, if he had had time to have broug-ht all the Ind- 
ians on this side of the Mississippi into subserviency to 
his wall, and had thrown them upon the American border, 
in let us say, the war of 1812, as he did those whom he 
could influence, the situation would have been grave in- 
deed. The border would have been devastated, the fron- 
tier settlements wiped out, the war of 181 2 would have 
been indefinitely prolonged with horrors indescribable. 
As it was, had it not been for him and his Indians, a large 
part of w^estern Canada would have belonged to the 
United States by conquest. 

Harrison was a Virginian. The west was explored, con- 
quered, and protected, generally speaking, by men from 
the south of Mason's and Dixon's line — a fact usually lost 
sight of in our histories. His ancestry, which included a 
sig^ner of the Declaration of Independence from Virginia, 
■)uld be traced back to one of Cromwell's indomitable 
Ironsides, and far beyond. After graduating from 
Hampden-Sydney College he secured a commission in 
the regular army, against the advice of Robert Morris, 
his guardian. His first military experience was enjoyed 
under the personal instruction of that splendid revolu- 
tionary and border campaigner, Anthony Wayne. 

He was one of Wayne's aides in the war in the north- 
west wdiich culminated in the victory of Fallen Timbers; 
where, by the way, Tecumseh is alleged to have distin- 
guished himself on the Indian side. He was a close stu- 
dent of military matters, and his native talents as a 
soldier enabled him, a boy of nineteen, to prepare an 
order of march for the army as it advanced through 
the country of the hostile Indians, which was adopted 
unanimously by Wayne and the veteran officers to whom 
it was submitted. 



250 Border Fights and Fighters 

Harrison was the incarnation of personal daring and 
romantic gallantry. He married his wife in opposition to 
the wishes of her father, a certain Judge Symmes, uncle 
of the man who originated the absurd " Symmes Hole " 
theory of the North Pole. 

" Well, sir," sternly said the old judge to the young 
captain when he learned of the wedding, " I understand 
that you have married Anna." 

" Yes, sir." 

" How do you expect to support her? " 

" By my sword and by my right arm," was the doughty 
reply. And it may be said that no woman ever depended 
upon two more reliable things than those. 

At the age of twenty-four he resigned the army, was 
made secretary of, then delegate to Congress from, the 
northwest territory; and was subsequently (1801) "i. 
pointed the governor of the newly erected Indiana T. -c^h 
tory, which owes much to his fostering care and judiciv t 
administration. 

By the summer of 181 1 Tecumseh's league had become 
so formidable that he ventured formally to protest against 
a treaty which had been signed at Fort Wayne in 1809, by 
some of the tribes, ceding some three million acres of 
Indiana land to the United States for some eight thou- 
sand dollars and annuities aggregating less than twenty- 
four hundred dollars ! 

This tribal action was in opposition to his communal 
principle, and a council was appointed to discuss the 
matter. In violation of agreement Tecumseh came to 
Vincennes with four hundred armed Indians. The pro- 
ceedings of the council were interrupted by the threaten- 
ing attitude of the Indians. Harrison at one time drew 
his sword and rallied his small company of guards about 




Messengers brought letters . . . appealing 
for vengeance or protection." 



Tecumseh and Harrison 251 

him, fearing he would have to fight the angry Indians at 
once. Only his courage and coolness prevented a serious 
and bloody rupture then and there.* 

Matters were patched up, however; time was not ripe 
for Tecumseh's revolt yet, and it was finally agreed that 
the matter should be referred to the President of the 
United States. As it would take some time to hear from 
this referee, whose decision might easily be imagined, Te- 
cumseh, who had been merely playing for time, left the 
northwest and hastened south for a final appeal to the 
Indians of that section, leaving the charge of affairs of the 
northwest to the Prophet, with strict instructions to per- 
mit no rupture during his absence. His departure was 
fatal to his hopes, a mistake which caused the downfall of 
the confederacy. The Prophet's control of the Indians 
was not nearly so complete as that of his brother, and a 
series of petty forays, farm-burnings, murderings, and so 
forth, exasperated and irritated the settlers almost beyond 
endurance. Messengers brought letters to the Governor 
from all parts of the territory appealing for vengeance or 
protection. They had been hot for a punitive expedition 
from the first; indeed it is likely that one would have been 
undertaken if the Indians had remained quiet, so splendid 
a chance being afforded the Americans by Tecumseh's 
absence in the south. It was therefore soon determined 
that Harrison should march into the disputed territory 

* Tecumseh refused to go under a roof to hold this council. 

"Houses," he said haughtily, "were built for you to hold councils in; 
Indians hold theirs in the open air." After he had finished his speech one 
of Harrison's aides pointed to a chair, saying, "Your father requests you 
to take a seat by his side." " My father ! " replied the chief scornfully, 
as he stood erect before them; "the sun is my father, and the earth is my 
mother. On her bosom I will recline," he added, as he sat down upon the 
ground. 



•252 Border Fights and Fighters 

and make a demonstration in force which should at least 
compel the Prophet and his followers to observe the 
status quo until the President had been heard from, and 
which, if opportunity served, might do more serious work. 
As usual in our Indian difficulties, there was black treach- 
ery on both sides. 

Troops had already been assembled at Vincennes, the 
territorial capital. They were few in number but high in 
quality, the nucleus of the force being the Fourth U. S. 
Infantry, ordered from Pittsburg, under the command of 
Colonel John P. Boyd. Boyd was a Yankee soldier of 
fortune. After three years' service in the regular army 
he resigned his commission and went to India, where he 
took service under the Nizam of Hyderabad. He came 
back, after a sojourn of nine years, with substantial evi- 
dences of the favor of the Indian potentate, and was at 
once appointed colonel of the Fourth Infantry, Around 
this force had assembled a considerable body of the Indi- 
ana militia with two companies of Kentucky riflemen. 
These troops Harrison had trained and disciplined with 
the most painstaking care and they proved themselves 
fully the equals of any American soldiers who ever fought. 
They were in no sense the disorderly militiamen, or , 
trained bands, which had brought the name of militia into 
such disrepute in the first half of the century. They were 
soldiers. 

Among those who repaired to his standard in answer 
to his call were a number of men of the highest. consider- 
ation. Abraham Owen and Jo: Daviess of Kentucky, 
Randolph of Indiana, young George Croghan from Louis- 
ville, and many others. Daviess was the most noted 
character. Tales of his extraordinary courage, his won- 
derful oratorical power, his striking eccentricities, still 



Tecumseh and Harrison '^S3 

remain. He was the attorney, by the way, who prose- 
cuted Aaron Burr. When he went to Washington on 
one occasion, he had a suit made of red broadcloth ! 
" How else," he remarked when he was questioned as to 
the reason for this marvellous costume, " would anybody 
know that Jo: Daviess w'as in town? " Daviess was in- 
tensely ambitious of distinction and had evidently deter- 
mined to let no opportunity of advancing himself escape 
him in the coming campaign. 

The most noted body of militia was Captain Spier Spen- 
cer's company of mounted riflemen who were attached to 
the Fourth regiment of Indiana infantry. The men were 
uniformed in short coatees of yellow and were known as 
Spencer's " Yellow Jackets." 

As fast as the different bodies assembled at Vincennes 
they were sent up the Wabash. Boats carried the major 
portion of supplies up the river until the site of what is 
now Terre Haute, at the head of navigation, was reached. 
The force comprised nine companies of regulars, thirteen 
of Indians and two of Kentucky militia; of which seven 
companies, aggregating some two hundred and fifty 
men, were mounted. Here they built a fort to protect 
the boats which it was necessary to leave behind. The 
stockade was called Fort Harrison, and was garrisoned 
by Lieutenant-Colonel Miller, the famous " I'll try, sir," 
of^cer of Lundy's Lane. On October 28th, 181 1, the 
army numbering about a thousand men set forth for the 
Prophet's town, which was situated at the confluence of 
Tippecanoe Creek and the Wabash. The word Tippe- 
canoe is a corruption of the Indian word '" Keh-tip-a-quo- 
wonk," meaning the " Great Clearing." 

The shortest way to the town would have been by the 
east bank, but as it was thickly wooded and convenient 



254 Border Fights and Fighters 

for Indian ambuscades, Harrison chose to take the longer 
way around the bend of the river upon the west bank. A 
few miles brought the troops for the first time to the vast 
prairies which stretched far westward through Illinois, 
and the chroniclers report the surprise and admiration 
with which they regarded the unwonted landscape. They 
marched rapidly forward until on the 6th of November, 
1811, they came to a thick patch of woodland abound- 
ing in ravines and extending some miles to the west- 
ward of the river. They proceeded through this with 
the greatest caution, Harrison again adopting the ar- 
rangement and order of march which he had suggested 
in Wayne's campaign, to guard against ambush and 
surprise. 

In the late afternoon they were met by messengers 
from the Prophet, who professed to be very much sur- 
prised at the proximity of this formidable force. The 
Prophet's messengers asked for a council. They said 
that other messengers had been sent down the east bank 
to intercept the army, which they had expected would 
come that way. After some discussion Harrison ap- 
pointed a council for the next morning. 

Meanwhile the American soldiers had been marching 
up the river. Toward five o'clock they had approached 
within two hundred yards of the Prophet's town. The 
Indians massed themselves in front of the town, and a bat- 
tle appeared imminent. Harrison, however, did not think 
it advisable to attack the fortified town in daylight, so he 
halted his men. The representations of the Prophet's 
envoys that Elkswatawa was peaceably inclined and that 
all differences would be adjusted at the council, induced 
Harrison to encamp for the night. He did not expect 
the council to bring about any results, but he intended to 



Tecumseh and Harrison 255 

hold it, and then attack the town on the following night. 
The Prophet merely anticipated him by a night. Elks- 
watawa should have abandoned the town and led his peo- 
ple in flight until the Americans were no longer able to 
pursue. The Indian plans were not yet ripe for battle, 
and should war begin in the absence of Tecumseh the 
chance of savage success would be slight. 

The Americans, being ignorant of the country, the Ind- 
ians were requested to indicate a proper place for an en- 
campment. They pointed out a knoll about a mile and a 
half to the right. After it had been examined by officers 
and found suitable, Harrison moved his army there to 
pass the night. 

The bench of land, or plateau, was in the form of a nar- 
row triangle, the apex being to the southeast and very 
acute. It rested upon a deep rivulet called Bennett's 
Creek, which protected the rear. The base of the trian- 
gle on a level with the surrounding country was open to 
attack. At the back of the hill the land rose steeply some 
twenty feet above the creek. It sloped gently toward the 
Prophet's town in front, and faced, after an abrupt descent 
of ten feet, a stretch of marshy prairie which extended for 
a long distance. The place was thickly wooded, the 
ground cumbered with underbrush and fallen timber. 
There was plenty of wood and water, two prime requi- 
sites, and the situation was fairly defensible, especially 
against regular troops. 

The smallness of Harrison's force rendered it impossi- 
ble for him to occupy the whole of the plateau. He 
pitched his camp with the rear resting on the creek and 
the lines were roughly drawn in the form of a trapezoid, 
following the shape of the hill, but at some little distance 
from the edge, the front face occupying about seventy- 



!256 Border Fights and Fighters 

five yards and the perimeter of the entire encampment 
being about two hundred and fifty. 

Commencing with the northwest corner, the troops 
were posted in the following general order: The Ken- 
tuckians and one Indiana company occupied the left flank ; 




Plan of the Battle of Tippecanoe. 

one battalion of regulars and one of Indiana militia 
were posted in the centre of the front line; on the right 
flank were more Indiana militia, and Spencer's company 
occupying the point or narrow part of the line. The rear 
was allotted to the remainder of the militia and the second 



Tecumseh and Harrison 257 

battalion of regulars which joined the Kentuckians on 
the northwest corner. The cavalry under Daviess and 
Park were posted in the rear of the northeast angle. The 
officers' tents, those of the regular troops, and the bag- 
gage train, were placed in the centre of the enclosure. 
On account of the length to be covered the men were 
posted in single rank fairly close together, and a thin line 
of huma,nity encircled the field. 

The night was very cold. Rain fell at intervals, al- 
though toward morning the moon shone fitfully from 
time to time through the drifting clouds. Huge fires 
were kindled, without which it would not have been pos- 
sible for the troops to take any rest. A camp guard of 
over one hundred men under experienced officers, a large 
quota for so small a body, was carefully posted, and in- 
structions as to what should be done in case of a night at- 
tack were promulgated. The men were ordered to lie 
with their guns loaded and bayonets fixed. Only the 
regulars had tents, and in order to keep their pieces dry 
many of the militia wrapped their gun-locks in their 
coats or blankets and lay uncovered near the fires. 

III. The Battle of Tippecanoe 

Harrison's experience in Indian warfare had taught 
him that it was a wise precaution to awaken his men 
early in the morning, so as to be prepared for attacks 
which the Indians usually delivered shortly before sun- 
rise. He had just risen, therefore, at four o'clock on the 
morning of the 7th, from a few hours of troubled sleep, 
and was pulling on his boots preparatory to leaving his 
tent and giving the order calling the men to attention, 
when the stillness of the night was broken by the sound 



258 Border Fights and Fighters 

of a rifle shot which came out of the woodland to the 
northwest. It was instantly followed by a fusillade. 

Corporal Stephen Mars of Kentucky, the sentry whose 
beat extended farthest in the woods to the northwest, had 
detected dark bodies creeping noiselessly through the 
underbrush toward his post. He fired upon them in- 
stantly and then turned and dashed for the camp, shouting 
in alarm as he ran. The Indians who had approached 
thus near the lines with wonderful skill, saw that conceal- 
ment was at an end. They shot Mars dead before he had 
gone a dozen paces, and then, shouting their war-cries, 
rushed upon the regulars and Kentuckians who were 
posted on either side of that angle. Almost before the 
startled men, so suddenly awakened, were aware of their 
situation, the red warriors burst upon them. 

Seizing their weapons, after a single discharge of rifle 
or musket, there being no time for reloading, a desperate 
hand-to-hand conflict ensued, with rifle butt and bayonet 
against tomahawk and scalping knife. Such was the dash 
of the Indian attack that the two companies gave ground, 
as the savages in apparently countless numbers came 
leaping upon them out of the darkness. 

Meanwhile the whole camp had sprung to arms. The 
men stood in line, peering out into the black dark woods 
surrounding them, awaiting the next development, which 
was not long in coming, for presently along the whole 
front and extending around the right flank the crackle of 
rifles and muskets was heard, so that the entire camp, save 
for the space protected by the creek, was simultaneously 
assailed. 

Up in the northwest corner the condition of affairs was 
indeed critical. In spite of the heroic efforts of the troops, 
the Indians effected an entrance in the camp, and if they 



Tecumseh and Harrison 259 

could maintain their position the Hnes would be taken in 
the rear while they were attacked in the front, and the re- 
sult would be annihilation. Major Baen of the regulars 
was mortally hurt, Captain Geiger of the Kentuckians 
wounded, and m.any other officers and men were killed or 
wounded, and the line was giving away in great confusion. 
Some of the Indians who had broken through stopped to 
plunder the tents. It had all happened in a few moments. 

Harrison was equal to the emergency, however. He 
acted with true military promptness. Not stopping for 
anything he had run from his tent at the first shot. The 
horses were plunging wildly at their halters in the excite- 
ment and confusion. Just as the general reached them, 
his own horse, a white stallion, broke his halter and es- 
caped in the darkness. Harrison sprang to the back of 
the next one, which happened to be a dark bay, and to 
this fortunate circumstance he probably owed his life. 
His principal aide. Major Owen, was mounted upon a 
white horse, his own. The Indians had marked Harri- 
son's white horse at the meeting of the evening before, 
and as the general and his aide galloped to the northwest 
corner, the savage marksmen singled out the man on the 
white horse conspicuous in the firelight. He was shot 
and instantly killed. 

Harrison arrived at the angle just as the regulars and 
Kentuckians broke. He' ordered Peters' regular and 
Cooke's Indiana militia companies up from the rear, the 
only face unassailed, formed them across the gap, and 
charged forward with them with great spirit and success, 
the shaken troops rallying upon them and reoccupying 
their old places. Not an Indian who had entered the 
lines was left aHve when the lines were re-established. 
The first dash had failed, but the Indian fire was kept up 



26o Border Fights and Fighters 

with unabated vigor and the camp was furiously assailed 
everywhere. 

Meanwhile Jo : Daviess with the cavalry in the opposite 
angle was greatly desirous of distinguishing himself. As 
the fighting continued and the enemy drew closer he sent 
a messenger to Harrison requesting permission to charge. 
The general, in the thick of the fray at the time, directed 
Daviess to be patient, that he would give him opportunity 
enough to distinguish himself before the battle was over. 
Patience, however, was not one of Daviess' qualities. He 
sent a second time, and received the same answer, and 
finally a third time, whereupon Harrison replied, '* Tell 
Major Daviess he has had my opinion twice. He may 
now use his own discretion." 

Daviess instantly gave the order to charge. Instead 
of going out in line abreast he led his force through his 
own lines in single file, and made a rush for the woods. 
According to some accounts he was on horseback, at any 
rate he was conspicuous from a white blanket coat which 
he wore. He was shot through the body before he had 
gone ten paces, and his men retreated carrying him with 
them. The Indians attempted a countercharge, but the 
dragoons rallied and the attack was easily beaten ofT. 

The plateau was now encircled with fire. The troops 
standing near the edge were plainly visible to the Indians 
by the Hght cast by the remains of the huge fires back of 
them, while the savages could not be seen by the Ameri- 
cans, who could only fire at the flashes in the darkness. 
Every assailable point was hotly attacked again and again. 

Harrison rode up and down the fines freely exposing 
himself, his clothing torn by bullets, heartening and 
cheering the men, throwing a Httle reserve now here, now 
there, to re-enforce a weak spot, doing everything that a 



Tecumseh and Harrison 261 

brave and efficient officer could do to insure success. The 
steadiness of the militia was marvellous. They stood in 
the darkness after a time and fought like heroes, for the 
fires were extinguished by Harrison's orders as soon as 
the exigency permitted. Men fell on every side, yet there 
was no thought of retreat or giving back. 

After the failure to break the line on the left flank, the 
attack was concentrated on the narrow side of the right 
flank. Colonel Bartholomew was wounded, Lieutenant- 
Colonel Decker was next struck down. Captain Warrick, 
acting major, was then shot through the body. He was 
taken to the fire, his wound dressed, and as he was able to 
move, though his injuries were mortal, he went back to 
the line and fought with his men until he died. 

Spencer's " Yellow Jackets " bore the brunt of the fight 
at the point. The Indians were in front and on both 
sides of these brave men. Captain Spencer was shot in 
the head and severely wounded, but refused to leave his 
post, and continued to encourage his men. A few mo- 
ments after he received his first wound he was shot 
through the thighs and fell to the ground. Still he would 
not permit himself to be carried to the rear, but was being 
lifted up to cheer his soldiers, when he w^as shot in the 
heart and fell dead where he had fought. 

All the field officers of the Indiana militia at this point 
were killed or wounded, and most of the company officers 
also. There is a story told that Harrison, riding furiously 
up to the imperilled point, found the troops under the 
command of a mere boy, whose face was begrimed with 
powder and stained with blood from a wound in his fore- 
head. 

" Young man," said the general in great anxiety, not 
recognizing him in such a case, " where is your colonel? " 



262 Border Fights and Fighters 

" Dead, sir," was the answer. 

" Your major? " 

" Dead, sir." 

" Your captain? " 

" Dead, sir." 

" Who commands the regiment? " 

" I do, sir. Ensign Tipton, Fourth Indiana, sir." 

The story may well be true; it is certain that the boy 
went into the campaign a private, and that night of bat- 
tle made him the captain of his company. 

Harrison had one company still in reserve, Robb's Ken- 
tucky riflemen. He at once led them to the support of 
the right flank. They numbered thirty-five men, and sev- 
enteen of them were killed or wounded before the day 
broke. The men behaved with the greatest gallantry. 
Many of them had never been in action before, yet they 
coolly stood to their guns, and when it came to hand-to- 
hand fighting they displayed high courage. 

Captain Geiger of the Kentuckians narrowly escaped 
death at the knife of an Indian who had broken into the 
camp, whom he killed with his own hands. The flint of 
a soldier's piece slipped out of place. The man deliber- 
ately walked over to the remains of the fire in spite of ex- 
postulation, sat down by it and remained until he had 
fixed his musket, although the bullets fell around him like 
hail. Other men sprang upon the Indians crawling tow- 
ard the line and killed them with knife or hatchet, or 
were killed themselves in the struggle. 

Two hours the battle raged, but as day broke the regu- 
lars and Kentuckians on the left flank led by Major Wells 
moved out and by a spirited bayonet charge drove the 
savages in headlong rout, which extended all along the 
line. At six o'clock the fierce little battle was over. 



Tecumseh and Harrison ctS^ 

Harrison's loss in killed and wounded is usually given 
as one hundred and eighty-eight men, but the returns 
upon which this statement is made apparently do not in- 
clude some of the casualties among the officers, so that I 
am of the opinion that there were nearly two hundred 
casualties out of the one thousand engaged, or about 
twenty per cent., a fearful proportion indeed. Daviess 
died of his wounds during the day and with the other dead 
was interred upon the field. 

Harrison sent a detachment to burn the Prophet's 
town, which was found deserted, and to lay waste the sur- 
rounding country. Then destroying his private baggage 
and putting the w^ounded in the baggage-wagons, he re- 
traced his steps to Fort Harrison. The sufferings of the 
wounded upon this rough wagon journey were indescrib- 
able. 

The casualties among the Indians have never been 
learned with accuracy, but it is likely that they were at 
least as great as those sustained by the Americans. The 
Indians, wdio were from a number of tribes, were led by 
three chiefs named White Loon, Stone Eater, and Win- 
nemac. The Prophet, who had, after the manner of his 
kind, promised immunity from the American bullets to 
his followers, had witnessed the battle from a situation 
back of the creek; also, after the manner of his kind, tak- 
ing care to be well out of range. When he was re- 
proached by the surviving Indians for having misled 
them with pretended immunities, he stated that his wife 
had touched the pot in which he had brewed his incanta- 
tions that night, and the charm had been broken by her 
profane hand! A child of Adam he, indeed. He was 
not believed, of course, but there was nothing to be done 
then. 



264 Border Fights and Fighters 

Alas for the Indians, more than the charm was broken 
on this occasion, for the whole confederacy, at least so far 
as the northwest was concerned, went to pieces in the face 
of the crushing defeat. The many warriors from so many 
different tribes carried the news everywhere, the Prophet 
was discredited, and Tecumseh in his absence was desert- 
ed by all but his own tribe. The Creek war with its awful 
massacres and bloody battles ensued in the south, but the 
spirit of the northern Indians was broken. 

When Tecumseh returned and found his careful plans, 
his far-seeing statesmanship frustrated by the signal abil- 
ity with which Harrison had taken advantage of his ab- 
sence and the folly of the Prophet, he was heartbroken, 
too. The war of 1812 opening soon after, he naturally 
cast his lot with the British, bringing many of the north- 
west Indians with him. Appreciating his influence and 
ability they made him a major-general, and he rendered 
brilliant and efifective service against the Americans in all 
the campaigns of the war. 

Proctor, the English commander, was greatly inferior 
to the Indian both in military talents and in personal char- 
acter, and anything that was accomplished by the allies 
was due to the genius of the savage rather than to the ef- 
forts of the Briton. He and Harrison faced each other 
many times in many hard-fought battles until the end 
came on the 5th of October, 181 3, near the Moravian 
Town on the River Thames in the Province of Ontario, 
Canada. 

IV. The Battle of the Thames 

After the stupendous victory of Perry on Lake Erie 
the British, utterly disheartened, abandoned their posi- 
tions and fled precipitately to the northwest, closely pur- 



Tecumseh and Harrison 265 

sued by Harrison and Governor Shelby of Kentucky, one 
of the heroes of King's Mountain, thirty-three years be- 
fore, in command of a fine force of three thousand regu- 
lars and Indiana and Kentucky troops, of whom the aged 
Shelby was not the least ardent — " Old King's Moun- 
tain " they called him from his share in the famous victory. 
They greatly outnumbered the allies, who comprised some 
seven hundred regulars and about one thousand two hun- 
dred Indians under the command of Tecumseh. 

Bitterly protesting against flight and earnestly pleading 
with the British commander to give battle, Tecumseh at 
last induced him to await the American attack at a place 
peculiarly well adapted for defence. With the left flank 
protected by the river Thames, here high banked and un- 
fordable, and his right flank resting upon an almost im- 
passable swamp. Proctor finally resolved to make a stand. 
Between the river and the large swamp a smaller swamp, 
or marsh, divided the allies into two parts. The ground 
was thickly wooded with huge trees with but little under- 
growth. Proctor with the British regulars took the left 
of the line, Tecumseh with his Indians the right. 

Harrison, coming upon them late in the afternoon, de- 
termined to assault them in regular fashion by advancing 
his infantry under cover of skirmishers, and after the battle 
had been joined throwing in his cavalry, of which he had 
a very fine regiment of Kentuckians, commanded by Col- 
onel Richard Mentor Johnson. But upon learning that 
the British troops, through some unaccountable blunder, 
were drawn up in open order, Harrison changed his plan 
and began the battle by launching a furious cavalry charge 
upon both sides of the small swamp. At the same time he 
deployed a portion of his army to the left to attack the Ind- 
ians, who had extended on his flank in the large swamp. 



i66 Border Fights and Fighters 

Old General Shelby had charge of this portion of the ad- 
vance. The cavalry, upon the word, charged with the ut- 
most gallantry on both sides of the small swamp. Colo- 
nel Johnson led the attack on the Indians, and his brother 
and Lieutenant-Colonel on the British. The Johnsons 
were a family of fighters, for two sons of the lieutenant- 
colonel, one only a boy, accompanied him in the charge. 

After two volleys and some irregular firing, the British, 
overridden by the impetuous horsemen, who were closely 
followed by the infantry, threw down their arms and sur- 
rendered, Proctor fleeing like the coward he was from the 
field which he had failed to defend. He was afterward 
court-martialed and severely censured for his lack of con- 
duct. On the Indian side of the swamp, however, the 
battle was more fiercely contested. All the loss the Amer- 
ican army sustained practically occurred here. The en- 
gagement was general for perhaps ten minutes, when Te- 
cumseh was shot and the Indians at last gave way in all 
directions before the steady advance of the American sol- 
diers. The American loss was about fifteen killed and 
thirty wounded; the British loss, about eighteen killed, 
twenty-six wounded, and six hundred prisoners. Thirty- 
three dead Indians were left on the field, many were 
wounded but escaped, and their total loss was probably 
heavy. 

Who shot Tecumseh is one of the unsolved and un- 
solvable mysteries of history. Colonel Johnson, who 
was wounded no less than five times in the fight, did 
shoot with a pistol a prominent Indian who had already/ 
wounded him and was making toward him to finish him. 
It was alleged that this Indian was Tecumseh. Johnson, 
who was afterward Vice-President of the United States, 
never made the claim himself that it was, although his 



Tecumseh and Harrison 267 

political partisans did so for him. Volumes have been 
written to discover the fact, but it remains as far from 
solution as ever. Of one thing is there assurance, and 
that is, that the great chief fell in this battle, which was 
after all scarcely more than a skirmish. There are grew- 
some stories about his skin being flayed from his body 
for razor-strops, but they are not well authenticated. 
Indeed, the identification of his body after the battle is 
by no means complete. That he died there, however, 
appears to be certain. 

A petty ending to all his great ideas, his brilliant plan- 
ning, his splendid courage, his noble dream of a Red 
Men's Republic ! He was beyond his time, and beyond 
his people. So his life was wasted. Let it be said of him 
that he was a merciful Indian in accordance with his 
lights, that he permitted no burning of prisoners nor 
other torturing, that the massacre of the Raisin River 
was not due to him, and that he observed in large meas- 
ure what are called the rules of civilized warfare. 

It is significant, too, that before this last battle of which 
the baffled, disappointed man saw the inevitable end, he 
had communicated to his friends his resolve never to leave 
the field alive, and he had stripped ofif his British uniform 
and gone into the action attired in the savage simplicity 
of his ancient forefathers. 

Harrison, with Perry, who had been present at the bat- 
tle, and General Shelby and Colonel Johnson were the 
heroes of the hour. The national significance in our early 
development of the battle of Tippecanoe, to which the 
victory of the Thames called renewed attention, has been 
pointed out. It had an interesting personal significance 
to the American commander as well, for it undoubtedly 
called the public attention to Harrison in such a way that. 



268 Border Fights and Fighters 

when it was coupled with his brilhant campaigning in the 
subsequent war, it finally made him the foremost man of 
the Republic and at last the President of the United 
States. Men yet live who remember the stirring slogan 
of his political campaign, which joined his name with that 
of his running mate in these words: " Old Tippecanoe 
and Tyler too." 

As the industrious and indefatigable Lossing says of 
the battle: 

" History, art, and song made that event the theme of 
pen, pencil, and voice; and when, thirty years afterward, 
the leader of the fray was a candidate for the Presidency 
of the United States, he was everywhere known by the 
familiar title of ' Old Tippecanoe.' His partisans erected 
log cabins in towns and cities, and in them sang in 
chorus : 

' Hurrah for the father of all the great west, 

For the Buckeye who followed the plow; 
The focman in terror his valor confessed, 

And we'll honor the conqueror now. 
His country assailed in the darkest of days, 

To her rescue impatient he Aew, 
The war whoop's fell blast, and the rifle's red blaze, 

But awakened Old Tippecanoe.' " 

And Tecumseh's name reappears in history in the mon- 
itor which was sunk in Mobile Bay by the Confederate 
torpedoes off Fort Morgan, and in the cognomen of that 
great modern warrior, William Tecumseh Sherman. 



Part V 
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 

III 

The Massacre on the River Raisin 



THE Mx^SSACRE ON THE RIVER 
RAISIN 

" Woe, and woe, and lamentation! 
What a piteous cry was there! 
Widows, maidens, mothers, children, 
Shrieking, sobbing in despair. 

" Woe to us, ah, woe Kentucky! 
O, our sons, our sons and men! 
Surely some have 'scaped the Indian, 
Surely some will come again! 

" Till the oak that fell last winter 
Shall uprear its shattered stem — 
Wives and mothers of Kentucky — 
Ye may look in vain for them! " 

— Adapted from Aytoun. 

I. The Army of the West 

IN the early part of 1813 tidings of an appalling dis- 
aster to our arms came blowing down the winter 
wind from the far northwest. Although there were 
no telegraph lines, nor railroads, nor other means of 
quickly diffusing intelligence, rumors of a bloody battle 
fought and lost, and succeeded by a ruthless massacre, 
spread with incredible swiftness in ever-widening circles 
of apprehension and alarm. The news carried dismay and 
desolation and anguish to the people of Kentucky. Win- 
chester's detachment had been cut ofif, it was reported, 
and every man of them slain. Later and authentic in- 
formation mitigated the first impression of the calamity, 

271 



272 Border Fights and Fighters 

but the tidings were bad enough at best and they needed 
no exaggeration to send a wave of grief and rage 
throughout Kentucky primarily and the United States 
generally. 

It is difificult to overestimate the important part played 
by Kentucky in the War of 1812. Because she was 
a trans-Allegheny state and most of the campaigns in 
which her soldiers took part occurred in the northwest- 
ern territories, their achievements, except in the case of 
William Henry Harrison, have been somewhat lost sight 
of. Yet the best blood of the new state responded with 
spontaneous enthusiasm to the demands of the govern- 
ment; and not only in the regular army of the United 
States but in the regiments of volunteers with which our 
greater wars have usually been fought, her citizens dis- 
played an alacrity and self-sacrifice which set the pace 
and established the mark for older communities. 

The best men in the state did not disdain to fill the sta- 
tions of subalterns, and numbers of them were even found 
in the ranks. Many of these volunteers were killed or 
wounded, and the regiments of which they made up the 
principal quota participated in some of the hardest of the 
little fights with which the war abounded. 

After the pusillanimous surrender of Hull at Detroit, a 
vigorous effort was inaugurated to recover the lost city 
and drive the British from the peninsula of Michigan. 
After various hesitations the supreme command of the 
force designed for the recapture and invasion of Canada 
was conferred upon Harrison, who was appointed a ma- 
jor-general in the regular army. His force was assem- 
bled in three small divisions, the left being under the com- 
mand of Brigadier-General James Winchester. 

Winchester was a veteran of the Revolution. He had 



Massacre on the River Raisin 273 

been a lieutenant in the Virginia Continental line at 
the age of twenty-four. It was his misfortune to be 
captured early in the Revolutionary War and to spend 
over four years as a prisoner. Most of the fighting 
was over when he was released, and as he had enjoyed no 
opportunity for distinguishing himself, consequently he 
had not risen above a subordinate rank. He was at this 
time over sixty years old; a brave, upright, estimable gen- 
tleman, with no other qualifications whatever for military 
command. 

Under him was a force of some twelve hundred men, in- 
cluding the Seventeenth U. S. Regular Infantry, under 
Colonel Wells, who had fought brilliantly at Tippecanoe, 
the First, Second, and Fifth Kentucky Volunteers, the 
First Kentucky Riflemen, and some other troops. The 
soldiers, who had been enlisted in August, were provided 
only with clothing for summer campaigning, and as the 
winter approached, they suffered terrible hardships. The 
winter was one of unusual severity. 

Harrison appealed personally to the women of Ken- 
tucky, and with patriotic zeal they labored to provide 
blankets, overcoats and other clothing for their men in 
the field, but these supplies had not yet reached Winches- 
ter's detachment. Harrison intended to concentrate his 
men at the Rapids of the Maumee, preparatory to 
marching on the British head-quarters at Maiden, now 
Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada; and thither he directed 
Winchester to repair early in January, to fortify the place 
and to establish a depot to which would be sent the 
sorely needed supplies. 

The Kentucky troops were not well affected toward 
Winchester at first. He had been sent out by the Na- 
tional Government to supersede Harrison in the chief 



274 Border Fights and Fighters 

command, and a bitter feeling had been engendered there- 
by. Harrison had found it necessary to appeal to the pa- 
triotism of the troops ; but Winchester himself, by kindli- 
ness of heart, shown in the lax discipline he maintained, 
had changed the state of afifairs, so that he had become 
personally popular with the men, although their efficiency 
had not been promoted by his actions. 

They were, however, in good spirits at last in spite of 
hardships and exposures, and were become so zealous 
that when they were ordered to march to the Maumee 
Rapids, finding their horses and mules, as ill provided as 
their masters, unequal to the labor, the men dragged the 
cannon and supplies over the frozen country, gladly tak- 
ing hold of the traces and pulling the wagons and guns 
with their own hands. 

Everything connected with the army was in a chaotic 
state. There were few, if any, trained soldiers among 
the officials. The war had not yet developed those whose 
talents enabled them to supplement their lack of expe- 
rience, and things went on very slowly indeed; as they al- 
ways do, even in the best of times — as they did in the 
Spanish-American War, for instance. 

II. A Hazardous Expedition 

While they were waiting in the cold for the bringing 
up of the supplies, the arrival of re-enforcements, and the 
approach of the other detachments of the army, which 
Harrison was vainly endeavoring to hasten, an appeal for 
help was brought to Winchester from a little village called 
Frenchtown, situated on the River Raisin, a few miles 
above the place where it empties into Lake Erie and 
where is now the city of Monroe, Michigan. 



Massacre on the River Raisin 275 

The settlement was a small one, of some thirty families 
and as many houses. It was French in its origin and 
dated back in the previous century. The first settlers had 
named the stream upon which they had established them- 
selves the Riviere aux Raisins, on account of the preva- 
lence of wild grapes which they found there. 

The settlement was menaced by a body of Canadians 
and Indians under the command of Major Reynolds, who 
had been despatched to seize it as a convenient outpost for 
watching the Americans, by Colonel Proctor, the British 
commander in the northwest. Messengers were sent to 
Winchester's camp asking him to send a detachment to 
drive away the enemy and protect the citizens from the 
Indians. 

Moved by feelings of humanity, he committed a most 
serious military blunder. Feelings of humanity seem to 
find little place in military manoeuvres, unfortunately. 
Frenchtown w^as within eighteen miles of Maiden, in 
which lay a force of five thousand British and Indians. It 
was about thirty miles from the camp on the Maumee. 
Winchester divided his small force into two parties, and 
on the 17th of January, 1814, he sent the first moiety, 
some six hundred and fifty men, under Colonel Lewis, 
to dispossess the British and Indians from Frenchtown. 
He immediately re-enforced him with a small detach- 
ment under Colonel Allen^ which overtook the advance 
before the battle the next day. 

Winchester's soldiers, whose terms of service were 
shortly to expire, w^ere clamorous for movement. They 
did not wish to go home without having struck one 
blow at least, and through their officers they had strenu- 
ously urged upon the feeble general the despatch of the 
eivpedition. It does not appear that Winchester made 



276 Border Fights and Fighters 

any great resistance to their demand, or that he ever 
realized his blunder. 

The weather was bitter cold, but the ill-clad troops, re- 
joicing in the prospect of fighting, set forth sturdily upon 
their hazardous undertaking. They marched rapidly, and 
after a day and a night approached Frenchtown. They 
crossed the River Raisin upon the ice, formed up in the 
woods, seized the town, and drove out the advance guard 
of the allies, whom they found drawn up in a convenient 
situation ready to receive them. 

There was a spirited little engagement in the afternoon 
of the 1 8th, in which the British supported by a howitzer 
held their own for a time and inflicted a loss of some 
twelve killed, including one officer, and fifty-five wound- 
ed, including three officers, but they were finally driven 
from successive positions by the Americans. They re- 
treated in good order, and maintained an unbroken front 
until evening put an end to the battle, which was cer- 
tainly a victory for the Americans, since they remained in 
possession of the town and battle-field. 

Colonel Lewis, whose conduct had been characterized 
by courage and skill, withdrew to the town and went into 
camp. His wounded were gladly cared for in the houses 
of the French people and his men established themselves 
in a good defensive position, enjoying through the hospi- 
tality of the villagers the first good warm meal they had 
eaten for a long time. A messenger was at once sent 
back to Winchester telling of their success, and then they 
remained quietly in camp within striking distance of the 
whole British army to wait their general's pleasure. 

The houses of the village were mostly surrounded by 
gardens, the greater part enclosed by " puncheon " fences, 
which were in effect small stockades of heavy timber, or 



Massacre on the River Raisin 277 

split logs, between four and five feet high and admirably 
adapted for defensive warfare. Lewis seems to have 
knocked out some of the intercepting fences so as to 
make a clear stockade around the southern part of the 
town, in which he posted his troops. 

The messenger with the news of the success of the de- 
tachment raised the greatest enthusiasm in Winchester's 
camp. His men clamored to be led forward to the new 
position. Although there was no strategic importance 
to be attached to the possession of Frenchtown, and to 
hold it removed the division from its base of supplies and 
disorganized the plan of the commander-in-chief, it 
seemed on the face of it a bold, threatening, forward 
movement, and as such appealed to the unthinking. 

It was, in fact, so rash a movement that it amounted 
to foolhardiness. If one can forget that Proctor was a 
coward and an ass, it might be likened to thrusting one's 
head into a lion's mouth. At any rate, Winchester de- 
termined to establish his camp on the Raisin. Leaving 
some three hundred men at Maumee with instructions to 
guard the stores until they could be sent for, and also to 
receive other stores, and despatching a messenger to Har- 
rison with the first new^s of the little victory and the pro- 
jected movement, Winchester, accompanied by Colonel 
Wells and the Seventeenth regulars, marched to French- 
town. When they got there on the 20th a petty little 
question of precedence which arose necessitated an ar- 
rangement which brought about the ultimate disaster of 
all of them. 

Wells, as a colonel in the regular service, was senior in 
rank to Lewis and was thus entitled to what is known as 
the right of the line. On the left of the stockade occu- 
pied by Lewis there was another garden enclosure which 



278 Border Fights and Fighters 

would have afforded excellent cover for Wells, but in a 
spirit of military punctilio he chose to maintain his right 



iliiilffiiwsiiiii^ 



BR IT IS Hv 






i'\^\ii',\\\\\Ui.<- 




REGULARS 



"<>, 






W'^ 



HOWITZC n 






/'^i^A 




N\^Vi///IIIV-'V/i\^vy;;ii\\vVii\\\''/iiW'//i\\\'-'v;/i 






jlL 



AMERICANS 



iCHCOn rcNtC 

"ca"cBi"*ca 






BARN I 

Frenchtown 







■ Place ^''SuRREhJDEiF^' 



Map of Frenchtown and the Massacre on the Raisin. 

to the right of the line, and accordingly encamped his 
men in the open on the right of Lewis, with no pro- 



Massacre on the River Raisin 279 

tection whatever. His detached force was therefore a 
weakness rather than a strength to the army. 

Winchester seems to have made no objection to the 
foolish arrangement. Indeed, it was only intended to be 
temporary, for the next day, the 21st, the officers pitched 
upon a suitable location for a fort large enough for the 
whole army, which they arranged to commence on the 
22nd. Winchester established his head-quarters at the 
house of a man named Navarre, some three-quarters of a 
mile from the camp and south of the Raisin, a stream 
seventy yards wide and now frozen solid between its low 
banks. 

There they lay, therefore, some nine hundred and fifty 
officers and men, without artillery, without provisions, 
with only a scanty supply of ammunition, ill-clothed, with 
no adequate commissariat, utterly unsupported and with- 
in easy striking distance of six times their number of the 
enemy. To add to their misfortunes the foolish question 
of precedence had so disposed them that over one-third 
of the force was in an untenable position. Wars have 
been waged and great peoples ruined over questions of 
precedence more than once. 

Proctor, who in this one solitary instance seems to have 
exhibited some little capacity, at once moved down to at- 
tack them with six pieces of artillery and a force estimated 
at twelve hundred British and Indians, of whom three 
hundred were regulars of the Forty-first and the Royal 
Newfoundland Regiments, two hundred of the remainder 
being Canadian volunteers embodied in regiments, and 
the balance Wyandotte Indians led by a celebrated chief 
known as Round Head. Proctor supposed that he was 
to meet Lewis' detachment only, or he would have taken 
a larger force. He was ignorant of Winchester's arrival 



28o Border Fights and Fighters 

with a re-enforcement. However, as the event showed, 
he had more than enough for the purpose. 

In the American camp there seems to have been a neg- 
lect of the most rudimentary duties of a soldier. No 
scouts were ordered, no pickets placed, and even the sen- 
tries were not extended as they should have been. A 
large supply of ammunition was left undistributed at Win- 
chester's head-quarters, although some of the troops had 
only ten rounds with them. 

Colonel Wells and Colonel Lewis finally began to fear 
that their position would invite attack and made represen- 
tations to General Winchester snugly ensconced in the 
Navarre house across the river. He pooh-poohed their 
fears and made light of their suggestions, until finally the 
news was brought by one of the French inhabitants that 
a large force of British and Indians had left Maiden and 
were approaching Frenchtown. This was contradicted 
vehemently by another Frenchman, who bore the historic 
name of La Salle, who it was afterwards learned v/as in 
the pay of the British. Winchester was reassured by La 
Salle's protestations and accordingly did nothing. 

in. The Battle of Frenchtown 

The night of January 21st was intensely cold, the 
ground was covered with snow, the wind blew fiercely. 
The poorly clad sentries almost perished during their 
long vigils, and they naturally kept an indifferent watch. 
Some of the approaches to the town were left entirely 
unpicketed. No scouting parties were sent out. The 
American army lay huddled around its fires, or crowded 
the huts and houses of the village seeking shelter from 
the freezing cold of the bitter winter. The whole army 



Massacre on the River Raisin 281 

passed the night in confident security, and Proctor with 
his well-clad troops and Indians was enabled to approach 
near the camp without discovery. 

Between four and five o'clock, probably nearer five, 
while it was yet dark, the drummer-boys began beating 
the reveille. The echoes of the drums had scarce died 
away under the black sky when three rifle shots from the 
nearest sentries, instantly followed by the report of a can- 
non and the bursting of a bombshell, crashed through the 
morning air. The discharge was succeeded by the rat- 
tling of musketry mingled with the cheers of the British 
and the yells of the Indians. 

The startled Americans sprang to their arms in the gray 
misty morning, and in their bewilderment opened a fire 
upon the flashes of light which told of the presence of the 
enemy. If Proctor had realized the situation he could 
have rushed the camp and surprised the Americans al- 
most in their sleep. He chose, however, to bombard the 
pickets with his artillery, and the first gun, with a few ran- 
dom shots from the American pickets upon him as he 
marched forward in the snowstorm and darkness, fol- 
lowed by the general discharge, apprised the Americans 
of the advent of the enemy. 

Fortunately the darkness prevented much damage 
from being done on either side by the firing, and it was 
not until daybreak that the battle became serious. Mean- 
while Proctor extended his line, placed two of his guns to 
the eastward of Lewis' division, and massed a large force 
of Indians on the exposed flank of Wells' command. 

Winchester had arisen when he had heard the sound of 
firing in the winter morning, hastily dressed and galloped 
to the front with his stafT. There was no want of courage 
in the old man. He at once took position on the right 



282 Border Fights and Fighters 

flank of Wells' troops. As it grew lighter he discovered 
the mass of Indians menacing this right, the discovery 
being emphasized by the severe fire which the Indians 
poured upon the regulars from the cover of the trees with 
which the country abounded. Then for the first time he 
seems to have realized the untenable position of the men, 
and he ordered them to withdraw into the stockade, or, 
as it is sometimes alleged, to retire and reform behind the 
houses back of Wells' position. 

The greater portion of these troops had never been in 
action before. As a rule it is only seasoned veterans who 
can safely be withdrawn from a position in the heat of a 
fierce action. The little prairie upon which the town 
stands was now ringing with musketry. The Americans 
were fighting coolly, although they were suffering great 
loss. It was evident, however, that the position of Wells' 
regiment was hopeless. Winchester had to order the 
retrograde movement or see the flank cut to pieces where 
it stood. 

The regiment started back in good order, but the Ind- 
ians, mistaking the manoeuvre for a retreat, contrary to 
their practice broke from cover and rushed upon the 
Americans. They were two to one at the point of con- 
tact, the march became a run, the run engendered a panic, 
and in a wild, disorganized mass the soldiers streamed 
past the stockade, through the town and made for the 
frozen river. 

Colonel Lewis in the stockade, seeing the disaster, de- 
spatched Colonel Allen's regiment to charge the advanc- 
ing Indians and give the regulars time to recover. He 
himself gallantly left the stockade and joined Winchester, 
Wells, Major McLanahan, and other officers in an heroic 
effort to stay the wild rout, but all in vain, . Allen's men. 



Massacre on the River Raisin 283 

who charged the Indians bravely, were shattered by a 
heavy fire, the Indians made a countercharge in the 
smoke, the Americans were swept away and at once fol- 
lov.ed the others in retreat, the savages close on their 
heels. 

Round Head had handled his savages with great skill 
and he was now reaping the reward of his generalship. 
The fleeing men were shot down, tomahawked, and 
scalped in scores. Of the whole lot, only thirty-three es- 
caped. The remainder were overtaken and surrounded 
south of the Raisin and butchered without mercy. One 
young ofificer surrendered himself, and twenty men and 
the whole number, saving himself, were immediately shot, 
or tomahawked, and scalped. Colonel Wells and Major 
McLanahan were killed and most of the other ofBcers as 
well. 

Colonel Allen, desperately wounded, backed up against 
a tree for support. His of¥er to surrender was at first ac- 
cepted, but two Indians made for him with hostile intent. 
Allen, perceiving their design, determined to sell his life 
dearly. He cut the first man down and killed him with 
one terrific blow of the sword. The second man shot him 
dead. He was one of the finest gentlemen of Kentucky. 

General Winchester and Colonel Wells were taken 
alive. The Indians stripped the poor old general and his 
surviving officers of their uniforms, so that they nearly 
perished with cold, and then marched them to Proctor's 
head-quarters. The right wing of the American army 
had not only been routed but annihilated. The battle, so 
far as they were concerned, had ceased when they began 
to retreat. The field was turned into a shambles. The 
Indians in this part of the affair suffered but little loss. 

Meanwhile Proctor had been furiously assailing the 



284 Border Fights and Fighters 

stockade. Three times he had launched his regulars and 
Canadians in force upon it. Although dismayed and ap- 
palled by the repulse of the right wing, the Americans un- 
der Major Madison, a veteran of the Revolution, in 
which he had fought under George Rogers Clark, at the 
age of twelve, and of the Indian Wars under St. Clair and 
Wayne, put up a fierce defence. Major Graves, the senior 
ofificer, having been severely wounded early in the action. 
Three times they repulsed the British, killing and wound- 
ing over half the regulars present. So accurate was their 
rifle fire that sixteen men were killed or wounded, in 
quick succession, around the nearest six-pounder of the 
English, and the service of the gun was abandoned. 

The Indians, flushed with their victory, now joined the 
beleaguering force and poured in a tremendous fire upon 
the stockade, which was spiritedly returned, and a heavy 
loss was here inflicted upon the savages. 

Proctor finally withdrew his cannon and had about 
made up his mind to abandon the siege when he resolved 
to try a stratagem. The frozen, exhausted, old American 
general was brought to him. Winchester had just wit- 
nessed the annihilation of nearly half his force. Proctor 
assumed a threatening manner and declared that the 
stockade was practically in the power of the British, and 
unless it were immediately given up he would abandon it 
to the Indians, with the result that all the Americans 
would be massacred. The British commander said that 
if the matter came to a storm he would be unable to con- 
trol the Indians. If, however, Winchester would order 
his men to surrender. Proctor pledged his sacred honor 
that he would give the prisoners protection from the Ind- 
ians, treat them as prisoners of war, and allow the officers 
to retain their side arms and private property. 




" Proctor . . . had a fiery interview with 
the American commander." 



Massacre on the River Raisin 285 

Winchester, a kind-hearted old man, whose nerves had 
been greatly shaken by the awful slaughter he had wit- 
nessed, for the supposed sake of his men wrote an order 
directing Major Madison to surrender. Winchester, be- 
ing a captive, had no right to give an order of any kind, 
and no obedience would have been required from any man 
to such an order. 

So successful had been the defence of the stockade that 
when Madison's men saw the flag of truce coming they 
imagined that it might be a request for a parley to permit 
the British to secure their dead and wounded and march 
away, or perhaps even surrender. Though how they 
could have thought that troops in the open, capable of re- 
treating, would surrender to troops in a stockade is difB- 
cult to understand. Madison's men knew that the right 
wing had been repulsed, but were ignorant that it had 
been annihilated, and when they received the order, and 
the news as well, they were appalled. 

Through some error Winchester's order for surrender 
did not specify anything about protection or other condi- 
tions. Proctor, who had come himself with the flag of 
truce, had a fiery interview with the American commander, 
who refused absolutely to surrender until promised safety 
for his men from Indian attacks. This Proctor assured 
him in the most solemn manner; thereupon Madison 
yielded his position. 

He probably would not have done so, but his ammuni- 
tion was all but exhausted. Had Proctor made another 
attack this fact would have been developed and the Amer- 
icans would have been at the mercy of the enemy. As 
soon as the surrender was announced the Indians, frenzied 
by the excitement of battle and the number of slain, im- 
mediately rushed upon the Americans tomahawk and 



286 Border Fights and Fighters 

scalping knife in hand. Fortunately the troops still re- 
tained their arms and they turned upon the savages with 
muskets, bayonets, and bovvie knives, and taught them a 
salutary lesson. Proctor had manifested little desire, and 
had made no attempt to restrain the Indians, but they 
were so savagely handled that they fled, leaving these 
Americans severely alone. 

There had been about six hours of fighting, during 
which the Americans had lost about three hundred and 
fifty killed. There were some seventy-five severely 
wounded in addition and about five hundred were made 
prisoners. Proctor, in deadly anxiety lest Harrison 
should approach him with his army, immediately put his 
force in array to march back to the main body at Maiden. 
The American wounded were left at Frenchtown under 
the care of two of their surgeons who had survived the 
slaughter of the battle, in charge of a British major and 
three interpreters with no force to protect them. Proc- 
tor promised to send sledges to fetch them the next day. 

IV. The Murder of the Wounded 

The Indians marched away with Proctor, but it was 
learned by the inhabitants of the village that they halted 
six miles from Frenchtown by Proctor's permission for 
" a jollification " — a war or scalp dance, or some such 
hellish revel. The night of the 22nd was passed in terri- 
fied apprehension by the poor wounded men for whom 
the surgeons were doing the best they could. On the 
morning of the 23rd some two hundred of the savages re- 
turned to Frenchtown. They were already excited by 
the liquor they had imbibed and they procured an addi- 
tional supply by breaking into some of the houses. The 
wounded prisoners were dragged forth. Those who 



Massacre on the River Raisin 287 

were unable to walk were stripped, shot, tomahawked, 
and scalped. Some of them were left in houses which 
were set on fire and then burned to death. 

The lives of about thirty who could manage to drag 
themselves along were spared, and they were driven in 
the frightful cold toward the head-quarters at Maiden. 
All who could manage to stagger tried to make the jour- 
ney; they hobbled along till their strength gave out and 
were butchered where they fell. Many of the prisoners 
were not given up to the British, but were retained in 
bondage by the Indians. 

This was the way Proctor kept his promise. These two 
hundred Indians comprised the escort he had ordered to 
bring up to Maiden the wounded prisoners who had 
trusted to his honor. An old report from a Canadian pa- 
per, in my possession, has the following comment : " All 
day throughout the Indians behaved nobly, and the instant 
the enemy surrendered, their forbearance, as in former 
actions, was strikingly conspicuous." Wasn't it? 

The fate of Captain Hart, the brother-in-law of Hen- 
ry Clay, was particularly harrowing. Although badly 
wounded he had begged of Captain Elliott that he might 
be taken with the other prisoners on the 22nd, and the 
men of his company offered to carry him. But Elliott 
pledged his honor that Hart would be safe and that his 
own private sleigh should be sent for him the next morn- 
ing. This Elliott had been a whilom personal friend of 
Hart's and a man who was indebted to Hart's family for 
many kindnesses before the war. He had charge of the 
Indian allies and is reputed to have said significantly to 
some of the wounded who asked for attendants and assist- 
ance, "that he would leave them to the Indians, who were 
all good doctors ! " 



288 Border Fights and Fighters 

Elliott, of course, broke his promise; his honor was no 
stronger than Proctor's, and Hart was ruthlessly killed 
with the rest the next morning. His last words were a 
prayer to God for strength to meet his fate. 

The British loss was twenty-four killed and one hun- 
dred and fifty-eight wounded, most of the casualties be- 
ing from the regular regiments. The Indian loss was 
probably under fifty. The American loss was between 
three hundred and ninety and four hundred killed, be- 
sides the few wounded whose lives were spared. Thirty- 
three got away and about five hundred and forty were 
captured. 

Yes, there was sorrow and grief in the tidings to the 
people of Kentucky. But they were inflamed to furious 
wrath by the story of the killing by the Indians of the men 
who had surrendered and of the ruthless butchery of the 
helpless wounded permitted by Proctor. This affair was 
known colloquially as " The Massacre of the Raisin," and 
the war-cry of the Americans, which was heard on many 
fields and most fiercely at the Battle of the Thames, where 
Proctor fled like a coward and Tecumseh died like a hero, 
was, " Remember the Raisin." It is reported that some 
of the Kentucky borderers flayed the bodies of the Ind- 
ians, cutting their skins into long razor strops after the 
Battle of the Thames to " Remember the Raisin." 

One of the most damning indictments that has ever 
been drawn against any civilized nation is that against 
Great Britain for employing the Indians as allies in this 
war against the Americans, although in justice to one 
Indian it may be said, that if Tecumseh had been with 
Proctor on this occasion it is probable that the massacre 
might not have occurred. 



Part V 
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 

IV 

George Croghan and the Defence of Fort 
Stephenson 



GEORGE CROGHAN AND THE DE- 
FENCE OF FORT STEPHENSON 



I. A Boy in Command of Other Boys 

"^HIS is a story of a mere boy and a lot of other 
boys, on the frontier; an account of their heroic 
but forgotten exploit. It is barely mentioned in 



1 



the larger histories, and its value is scarcely understood. 
Important or not, it introduces us to specimens of young 
American manhood of which we may well be proud. 

Strange to say, few people at present have any but the 
vaguest idea as to who George Croghan was, and fewer 
still have ever heard of the fight at Fort Stephenson ; yet 
the names of both soldier and battle were once on every- 
body's lips, and they deserve a high and honorable place 
in the long and brilliant galaxy of American fights and 
fighters. 

Prior to the War of the Rebellion, by specific acts of 
Congress, from time to time, some forty-two of our sol- 
diers and sailors were awarded medals for heroic exploits 
or successful battles. Eleven went to Revolutionary he- 
roes, the French and Tripolitan Wars were credited with 
one each, the War of 1812 with twenty-seven, and two 
commanders were so distinguished in the Mexican War. 
The total number of medals for all causes distributed by 
act of Congress prior to 1861 was eighty- four. 

The War of 181 2 brought forth so large a number be- 

291 



292 Border Fights and Fighters 

cause every captain who took a ship in the marvellous sea 
fights of the period, received a medal. Also, in several 
of these ship and squadron engagements medals were 
awarded to subordinate officers for distinguished con- 
duct. Therefore, it would be fair to say that possibly not 
more than twenty-five separate actions in eighty-five 
years of thrilling history in which six wars were fought 
have been commemorated by the United States in this 
signal way. To digress; but two medals were awarded 
in the Rebellion (to Grant and Commodore Vanderbilt) 
and but one since (to Dewey), Now the general medal 
of honor has taken the place of the old-fashioned Con- 
gressional award. 

One of the 1812 medals was awarded to George Cro- 
ghan for his heroic defence of Fort Stephenson, and this 
little prelude shows the importance of it in our history. I 
believe Croghan was the youngest man to be so signally 
honored. 

Croghan was a Kentuckian. The family was one of 
prominence in early American history. His mother was 
a sister of the famous George Rogers Clark, and it was in 
her house near Louisville, where Croghan was born No- 
vember 15, 1 79 1, that the old Revolutionary hero died. 
Croghan's father had been a Revolutionary soldier, a ma- 
jor, who had fought with credit during that struggle. 
His parents were fairly well-to-do, and he received the 
best education then obtainable, at William and Mary 
College, Virginia, where he graduated in 1810, at the 
age of eighteen — a bright youth indeed! 

When General William Henry Harrison started on his 
Indiana campaign to break up the conspiracy of Tecum- 
seh, in 181 1, young Croghan, whose predilections were 
entirely military, accompanied the expedition as a volun- 



The Defence of Fort Stephenson 293 

teer aid to Colonel Boyd, who commanded the United 
States troops on this occasion. He distinguished himself 
at the famous night battle of Tippecanoe, received a 
coveted appointment in the army, and the War of 1812 
found him a captain in the Seventeenth Regiment of 
United States Infantry. He participated in all of Har- 
rison's early campaigns and he again distinguished him- 
self in a sortie at the famous siege of Fort Meigs, where 
he did valiant service as Harrison's aide-de-camp. He 
was mentioned in the despatches and rewarded by being 
promoted major of the Seventeenth Infantry. 

After the abandonment of the siege by the British he 
was sent with a battalion of his regiment, comprising with 
the officers one hundred and sixty men, to garrison 
Fort Stephenson. These ofificers, all youths, most of 
them junior in years to their boyish commander, have 
earned a place in history, and their names are here set 
down : Captain James Hunter, Lieutenants Benjamin 
Johnston and Cyrus A. Baylor, Ensigns John Meek, Jo- 
seph Duncan, and Edmund Shipp; all of the Seventeenth 
Regulars except Meek, who belonged to the Ninth. 
With them went Lieutenant Anderson, who, having no 
command, served valiantly as a volunteer in the ranks. 

Fort Stephenson was a ramshackle old stockade, built 
around a former Indian trader's house at the head of nav- 
igation on the Sandusky River, about twenty miles from 
the Lake Erie shore, in what is now Sandusky County, 
Ohio. The place was sometimes called Lower Sandusky, 
and the battle is frequently referred to as the defence of 
Lower Sandusky. The stockade, which was not in par- 
ticularly good repair, was made of piles sixteen feet high, 
and surrounding them was a dry ditch about eight or nine 
feet wide, and five or six feet deep. The fort, enclosing 



294 Border Fights and Fighters 

about an acre of ground, was laid out in the form of a par- 
allelogram, with a blockhouse at the northeast corner and 
a guardhouse at the southeast. To supplement these 
Croghan had erected another blockhouse midway on the 




Map of Fort Stephenson. 

north wall, from which he could enfilade the ditch. He 
also strengthened the palisade, and put it in as good a 
state of repair as possible. 

The place had not been designed as a fort. Originally 
it had only been intended as a defence against Indians. 



The Defence of Fort Stephenson 295 

It was situated on low ground near the river, commanded 
by surrounding hills, and was untenable in the face of ar- 
tillery. It was a depot of supplies of some importance, 
although the great depot for Ohio was at Upper San- 
dusky, some twenty miles up the river. There was also a 
third depot and much valuable government material at 
Erie, where Perry had been busily engaged in building 
and outfitting his famous squadron. Fort Stephenson, 
therefore, was an outpost which stood between the two 
great depots in which were stored the provisions and mu- 
nitions of war for all the American armies in the north- 
west. It was at the apex of a triangle, the base line of 
which connected Erie and Upper Sandusky. Its fall 
would leave a way open to attack one or the other of 
these vitally important places without much difficulty. 
Harrison with a very inconsiderable force was posted at 
Seneca Falls, about ten miles away from Fort Stephen- 
son. 

In the latter part of July, 1813, General Proctor, with 
a large force numbering at least three thousand Indians 
under Tecumseh, and six hundred British regulars, 
crossed the Lake from Maiden and appeared before Fort 
Meigs on the Maumee. Finding that he could not 
tempt the small garrison to a sortie by a clever ruse in- 
vented by Tecumseh, he determined to leave the fort for 
the present, and re-embarking his regular soldiers in gun- 
boats and directing the Indians to follow them along the 
shore, he made a swift dash at Fort Stephenson. He ex- 
pected to capture it without difficulty, fall on General 
Harrison's little force at Seneca Falls, and after defeating 
it have the government storehouse and in fact the whole 
of Ohio at his mercy. Harrison, of course, divined his 
plan, and the people of the northwest who could remem- 



296 Border Fights and Fighters 

ber the bloody massacre at the Raisin River, well knew 
what to expect from the mercy of Proctor and his braves. 
It was Croghan who frustrated this brilliant scheme. 

II. The Impudence of the Young Captain 

A few days before the arrival of the British, Harrison 
had examined the place and pronounced it untenable 
against the artillery and regulars, as indeed by right it 
was. He thereupon directed Croghan, if the British ap- 
proached, to abandon it and retreat. If the Indians came 
alone, as they had no artillery, the place might be de- 
fended. Harrison's scouts apprised the American gen- 
eral of the withdrawal of the allies from Fort Meigs, and 
their advance upon Fort Stephenson. Although the 
abandonment would leave either great depot open to at- 
tack, he determined upon it, hoping that he could assem- 
ble a force to relieve Erie, or to defend Upper Sandusky, 
as Proctor chose one or the other plan. On the night 
of the 29th of July, therefore, Harrison sent word to 
Croghan to destroy the place at once and retreat to 
Seneca Falls. The messengers lost their way, had to 
flee for their lives from the Indians, and did not reach 
Croghan until late in the morning of the 30th of July. 
The doughty American called his boy ofificers together 
in a council of war and finding them in high spirits and 
willing to stand by him, immediately despatched the fol- 
lowing remarkable note to Harrison : 

"Sir: — I have just received yours of yesterday, ten 
o'clock P. M., ordering me to destroy this place and make 
good my retreat, which was received too late to be car- 
ried into execution. We have determined to maintain this 
place, and by heavens, we can." 



The Defence of Fort Stephenson 297 

It was a plucky but very impudent document from a 
youthful major to a veteran major-general ! Harrison 
was a trained soldier and he could not brook for a moment 
having his orders disobeyed in this manner. He sent a 
squadron of cavalry with an officer to supersede Croghan 
and ordered him to report at head-quarters at once. The 
cavalry fought its way down the river through hostile Ind- 
ians, of whom they managed to kill nearly a score, by the 
way, and delivered the message. Croghan turned the fort 
over to Colonel Wells, and repaired at once to head-quar- 
ters. He explained that the general's orders had been 
delayed in reaching him and the woods were now filled 
with Indians. He did not think it prudent under the cir- 
cumstances to retreat with so large a body of infantry, and 
he had worded his reply in the bluff way in which he did 
in the hope and expectation that it would fall into the 
hands of the enemy. He expressed himself as confident 
of his ability to hold the post, or at least make the British 
pay a staggering price for it, and begged to be reinstated 
in his command and to be given permission to try it. 
Harrison, who was very fond of the young fellow, gen- 
erously accepted his explanation, and allowed him to 
resume his command. 

Croghan immediately returned to the fort, relieved 
Wells, and made vigorous preparation for its defence 
against the expected attack, which was not long delayed. 
On the first of August, about noon, the Indians were per- 
ceived in large numbers surrounding the fort. Tradition 
has it that one of them climbed a tall tree overlooking the 
enclosure, but before he could make any report of w'hat 
he saw he was shot dead by the unerring rifles of the 
Kentuckians. Others who made the attempt fared in 
the same way, and the Indians at last concluded that it 



298 Border Fights and Fighters 

would not be safe to reconnoitre in that manner. They 
gathered in some force on the edge of the clearing finally, 
but a discharge from a six-pound gun,* Croghan's soli- 
tary piece of artillery, easily dispersed them. 

About four o'clock in the afternoon the British boats 
appeared at a bend in the river and opened fire upon the 
fort from the boat guns. The British troops were disem- 
barked about a mile below the fort, and a five and a half 
inch howitzer was landed and began a cannonade, a fire 
the garrison received for the most part in silence, although 
the six-pounder which was mounted in the northeast 
blockhouse was dragged from port-hole to port-hole to 
give the impression of force, and fired occasionally. The 
number of the besiegers was about twelve hundred, of 
whom seven hundred were Indians. Tecumseh, with 
two thousand savages, was placed some miles back to 
menace the troops in Fort Meigs and the camp at Seneca 
Falls, if either moved to reheve Fort Stephenson, and he 
took no part in the battle. The odds were heavy enough 
as it was; twelve hundred with ample artillery, against one 
hundred and sixty and one gun, led by youths 1 

As soon as the British landed, Colonel Elliott and Ma- 
jor Chambers, accompanied by Captain Dixen of the 
Royal Engineers, commanding the Indian auxiliaries, 
were sent forward with a white flag by General Proctor to 
demand the surrender of the fort. 

Ensign Edmund Shipp, the youngest officer in the post, 
and he must have been a mere boy indeed, was sent out to 
discover the purport of the flag; whereupon, after the 

* The soldiers called this cannon " Good Bess," for what reason it is hard 
to say. Why is it that so many guns, rifles, cannon, etc. , famous in his- 
tory have been called " Bess "or " Betsy " ? What's in that name to make 
it appropriate, I wonder ? 



The Defence of Fort Stephenson 2 



99 



usual salutations, an interesting conversation took place. 
Colonel Elliott demanded the " instant surrender of the 
fort, to spare the efifusion of blood, which we cannot do, 
should we be under the necessity of reducing it by our 
powerful force of regulars, Indians, and artillery." 

"My commandant and the garrison," replied the gallant 
young Shipp, " are determined to defend the post to the 
last extremity and bury themselves in its ruins, rather 
than surrender it to any force whatever." 

" Look at the immense body of Indians," urged Dixen, 
" they cannot be restrained from massacring the whole 
garrison in the event of our undoubted success." 

'' Our success is certain," added Chambers promptly. 

" Sir," said Elliott, " you appear to be a fine young 
man. I pity your situation. For God's sake urge the 
surrender of the fort and prevent the slaughter which 
must follow resistance should you fall into the hands of 
the savages." 

" It is a pity," continued Dixen beseechingly, " that so 
fine a young man as your commander is represented to be, 
should fall into the hands of the savages. Sir, for God's 
sake surrender and prevent the dreadful massacre that 
will be caused by your resistance." 

" When the fort shall be taken," replied Shipp daunt- 
lessly, entirely unaffected by these terrifying appeals, 
which only disclosed the incapacity of the British to con- 
trol their red allies, " there will be none to massacre. It 
will not be given up while a man is able to resist." 

Pretending to be fearful for Shipp's safety. Colonel El- 
liott thereupon urged him to go back to the fort at once. 
As the boy officer turned away, an Indian sprang from the 
bushes and endeavored to wrest his sword from him and 
cut him down. It was with great difficulty, which is be- 



300 Border Fights and Fighters 

lieved to have been a pretence, that Dixen dragged away 
the savage and besought Shipp to return with all speed 
to save his life, as he could not control the Indians ! The 
bluff did not work at all. The young subaltern did not 
scare a little bit. Croghan was standing on the rampart, 
watching the scene, and when he perceived the insult to 
his envoy he shouted: 

" Come in, Shipp, and we'll blow 'em all to hell! " 
Language which it is presumed he did not learn at 
William and Mary College, but which was singularly ap- 
propriate at the time ! It was a bold defiance indeed 
from the one hundred and sixty to the twelve hundred. 
There was a massacre sure enough, too, as it turned out, 
but the Americans were not the victims. 



III. Desperate Fighting 

The bombardment began at once, and continued with 
more or less vigor all the night, during which the British 
landed five six-pounders, parking three of them in a bat- 
tery on a hill covered by trees, about two hundred and 
fifty yards from the stockade, and disposing of the others 
to advantage. In the morning they opened a furious fire 
to which the Americans made little or no reply. During 
the night, with immense labor, Captain Hunter, the sec- 
ond in command, had succeeded in transporting the six- 
pound gun to the blockhouse on the north wall. Antici- 
pating an assault upon the northwest corner of the fort 
upon which the fire of the British had been concentrated 
during most of the day, the gun had been so placed as to 
rake the ditch. It was loaded with a half charge of pow- 
der, on account of the short range, and a double charge 




"The vounLZ siUnilterii did hoc scare a little hit. 



The Defence of Fort Stephenson 301 

of slugs and bullets. The port-hole was masked and the 
gun remained hidden. 

During the day whenever an Indian or a soldier showed 
himself outside of cover the Kentuckians took quick and 
generally successful shots at him, but otherwise the gar- 
rison made little response to the continuous cannonading, 
husbanding their powder, of which their supply was small. 
They were very busy, however, carrying sacks of flour 
and bags of sand from the storehouse to support the 
northwest corner of the stockade, which was being 
breached and demolished under the heavy battering it was 
receiving from the British guns. Croghan, of course, 
had taken his position on the northwest corner. 

Everyone was on the alert, however, when about five 
o'clock in the afternoon a storming party of some three 
hundred soldiers of the Forty-first Regiment rushed for 
the northwest corner, while at the same time two hundred 
grenadiers made a detour through the woods and ad- 
vanced to attack the south wall. Under cover of a fierce 
fire from the batteries and from every tree or hill on the 
high ground, which surrounded the fort, which would 
serve to conceal an Indian, the attack was delivered. The 
sky was black with storm clouds at the time, and peals of 
thunder in heavy detonations mingled with the roaring 
of the cannon and the rattle of the musketry. 

The place was covered with smoke which concealed 
the main advance until the English were within twenty 
feet of the fort. The first warning the startled Ameri- 
cans had was the sight of the grim faces of the red-coats 
shoving through the smoke. A deadly rifle fire which 
flashed from every port-hole checked them and threw 
them into confusion. 

The hesitation of the British, however, was but mo- 



302 Border Fights and Fighters 

mentary. Lieutenant-Colonel Short, their leader, sprang 
to the head of the column. Waving his sword in the air, 
he so inspirited them that they once more advanced. 
They came on with fixed bayonets without firing, in spite 
of a rapid and continuous discharge from the fort. Al- 
though many fell, they did not hesitate even when they 
reached the edge of the ditch, crying, " Come on, men ! 
We'll give the damned Yankees no quarter ! " Short, 
followed by Major Muir, and Lieutenant Gordon of the 
Forty-first, and the redoubtable Dixen, leaped into the 
ditch, and tried to scramble up the other side of it. 

The Americans could not depress their rifles suf^cient- 
ly to reach the men in the ditch, unless they exposed 
themselves above the stockade, which would be to invite 
destruction from the fire of the Indians. Short and his 
men, who had followed him most gallantly, concluded 
that when they gained the ditch they were safe for the 
time. Alas, they knew nothing of the masked six-pound- 
er, for at this instant, the port was thrown open and the 
cannon, effectively served by some Pittsburg volunteers, 
hurled its deadly charge of bullets and slugs at short range 
into the British huddled together in the ditch. No less 
than fifty men were killed, or so seriously wounded by 
that awful discharge that they could not escape from the 
death trap, and numbers of others were slightly injured. 
Colonel Short received a mortal wound and with his last 
effort raised his handkerchief upon the point of his sword, 
pleading for mercy, although but a moment since he had 
threatened to give no quarter. Gordon was instantly 
killed; Muir, Dixen, and other officers were wounded, but 
managed to escape. 

Appalled by such an awful slaughter and met by a con- 
tinuous withering fire from the American rifles and mus- 



The Defence of Fort Stephenson s'^S 

kets, the Englishmen who had not yet entered the ditch 
hesitated for a moment and, being without a leader, turned 
and fled, pursued by effective discharges from the six- 
pounder and dropping on their retreat in scores. On the 
south wall, where Hunter commanded, the attacking 
party under Colonel Warburton had fared scarcely any 
better. On both sides of the fort a long swath of dead 
or wounded grenadiers, writhing upon the ground in 
agony, showed the ebb and flow of the disastrous attack. 

The retreating British soon gained the safe shelter of 
the woods, where they were finally re-formed, and the 
cannonade which had been mtermitted at the moment 
of storm was feebly resumed. Croghan, however, knew 
that he had nothing more to fear. The assault had been 
repulsed with fearful loss, the actual fighting occupying 
scarcely half an hour. He had made good his defiance 
and had held the fort. 

The situation of the wounded men in the ditch was pit- 
iful. The British could make no move to extricate them 
or succor them. To come out in the open and face those 
rifles was death to them; and the Americans did not dare 
to open the gate and go into the ditch for the same rea- 
son. The poor soldiers had to lie there and endure their 
sufferings as best they could through the long night. 
Croghan was a merciful man and he did what he could for 
them. Buckets of water — the first thing a wounded man 
in battle craves — were lowered down to them over the 
stockade, and a small trench was dug beneath it into the 
ditch through which those who were able to crawl could 
come into the American works for help. Some of the 
more slightly wounded managed to reach their own lines 
under cover of the darkness. 

The loss of the British had been so severe during- the 



304 Border Fights and Fighters 

action of the two days — between twenty-five and thirty 
per cent, of the five hundred engaged, not including the 
casualties among the Indians, which were considerable — 
that Proctor retreated during the night with such precip- 
itancy that he left behind one boatload of stores and 
munitions of war; and the next morning the triumphant 
defenders gathered some seventy stand of arms, in addi- 
tion to those taken from the men who had been sv^ept 
into eternity in the ditch, which had been abandoned by 
the British in their hasty flight. The American loss was 
one poor fellow killed and seven wounded, none severely ! 

The American supply depots were saved, and the whole 
state of Ohio was again delivered from the fear of a Brit- 
ish conquest, with its attendant savage horrors, by the 
pluck and devotion of this young man and his gallant lit- 
tle band. As General Harrison said, in his report of the 
occurrence : 

" It will not be the least of General Proctor's mortifi- 
cation to find that he has been baffled by a youth who has 
just passed his twenty-first year. He is, however, a hero, 
worthy of his gallant uncle. General George Rogers 
Clark." 

Congress brevetted Croghan a lieutenant-colonel, and, 
years afterward, presented him with a medal of honor for 
his splendid and magnificent defence with its far-reaching 
consequences. Like his great uncle, he had again saved 
the northwest to the American flag. And the "final de- 
feat of Proctor at the Thames may be traced back to this 
bloody repulse at Lower Sandusky. 



Part VI 
TEXAS 

I 

David Crockett and the Most Desperate Defence 
in American History 



DAVID CROCKETT 

AND THE MOST DESPERATE DEFENCE IN 
AMERICAN HISTORY 

I. A Typical American 



MY DOG! 
ANDREW JACKSON. 



THAT is what, 
in emphatic lan- 
guage entirely 
consonant with his ac- 
tions, David Crockett 
said he would never wear on his collar. And the 
doughty declaration of individual right following may 
be taken as indicating what David Crockett really was. 
It reads well in these days of the Boss and His Slaves — 
which things are we ! 

" I am at liberty to vote as my conscience and judgment 
dictate to be right, without the yoke of any party on me, 
or the driver at my heels with the whip in his hands, com- 
manding me to ' Gee-whoa-haw ' just at his pleasure." 

The spelling of the paragraph is not that of its author. 
In his autobiography, one of the most naive and delight- 
ful of books, he takes occasion to defend his orthography 
by remarking that he despised '' the way of spelling con- 
trary to nature ! " It may be said, in passing, that many 
of his most eminent fellow-citizens and contemporaries 
shared his contempt for the rules of orthography. In 

307 



3o8 Border Fights and Fighters 

that book he speaks of himself with the utmost frankness; 
as for instance : 

" Obscure as I am my name is making- a considerable 
deal of fuss in the world. I can't tell why it is, nor in 
what it is to end. Go where I will everybody seems anx- 
ious to get a peep at me; and it would be hard to tell 
which would have the advantage if I, and the ' Govern- 
ment,'* and ' Black Hawk,' and a great eternal big cara- 
van of zvild varments, were all to be showed at the same 
time in four different parts of any of the big cities of the 
nation, I am not so sure that I shouldn't get the most 
custom of any of the crew ! " 

A modest man was David, it would appear, and a confi- 
dent author, too; witness this assertion: 

" I don't know of anything in my book to be criticised 
by honorable men. Is it my spelling? — that's not my 
trade. Is it my grammar? — I hadn't time to learn it and 
make no pretension to it. Is it in the order and arrange- 
ment of my book? — I never wrote one before and never 
read very many; and of course know mighty little about 
that. Will it be on authorship? — this I claim and I'll 
hang on to it like a wax plaster! " 

Evidently he considered grammar of no more account 
than spelling, and equally evidently the porous plaster had 
not been invented when he searched for a clinging simile ! 

There never was the slightest room for misunderstand- 
ing where Crockett was concerned. His character was 
plainness and simplicity itself. He usually hit the mark 
at which he aimed, whether with a rifle or not, in life, so 
clearly and plainly that dispute was impossible. Even 

*By the "Government" he means — and appropriately enough, too^ 
Andrew Jackson, the book being written while Crockett was in Congress. 



David Crockett 3^9 

the " 'coon " up the tree upon which he " drew a bead " 
with his famous weapon, the death-deahng " Betsy," at 
once recognized the futility of resistance, and, being for 
the nonce endowed with speech, with the famous remark, 
" Don't shoot, Colonel, I'll come down," gave up the 
game. True, Crockett would not be Andrew Jackson's 
dog, and because he countered some of the President's 
plans he had to give way — as did nearly everyone else in 
like circumstances. But nothing less than " Old Hick- 
ory " — better " Old Steel " — ever mastered or moved 
this redoubtable pioneer — unless it was a woman. His 
was a susceptible heart ! 

Nowhere but in America would such a career as Crock- 
ett's have been possible. With Jackson and Houston he 
represents a phase of American life, opportunity, and suc- 
cess, peculiar to the time and not to be repeated again. 
Though he was the least and humblest of the famous trio 
in both achievement and reputation, he was not unworthy 
of association with them. And upon the score of manly, 
lovable qualities he stood first of the three. His famous 
motto, which he earnestly strove to live up to, was of the 
very best : 

" Be sure you're right, then go ahead ! " 

Crockett was born at Limestone, Greene County, Ten- 
nessee, on the seventeenth of August, 1786. His father 
was an Irish immigrant who had fought in the Revolu- 
tion at King's Mountain — a patent of nobility on the 
frontier, that — and his mother was an American girl (the 
combination is delightful and promising). His parents 
were poor but happy — and therefore honest it may be in- 
ferred. Young David grew up in the wilds of Tennessee, 
a tall, sturdy, swarthy lad, with hair black and straight as 



3IO Border Fights and Fighters 

an Indian's and keen yet merry eyes to match. He took 
to the forest instinctively, loving it, mastering its hidden 
lore, knowing its secrets, and little else apparently. 

At the age of twelve he was apprenticed to a Dutch 
teamster, very much against his desire. After an enforced 
journey of four hundred miles to Virginia he ran away, 
and not daring to follow the road for fear of pursuit, he 
plunged into the wilderness and made his way back home 
after a hazardous and wonderful journey alone through 
the trackless woods. He was thereafter sent to school, 
where he spent just four days. Having whipped a larger 
and older boy who attempted to tyrannize over him, he 
played truant to avoid punishment, and when detected 
ran away again. 

He spent some three years in teaming and nearly two 
years with a hatter — singularly inappropriate calling — 
and then returned home. He found his people in strait- 
ened financial circumstances and generously worked a 
year to cancel two notes amounting to $86 which a 
neighbor held against the elder Crockett. Thereafter he 
resolved to go to school. Love sent him there. The 
young girls of the vicinity scorned him for his ignorance, 
which of books at any rate was dense, not to say, total. 
As he said long after : 

" But it will be a source of astonishment to many who 
reflect that I am now a member of the American Congress 
— the most enlightened body of men in the world — that 
at so advanced an age as the age of fifteen I did not know 
the first letter in the book ! " 

He continued at school for six months, working two 
days a week for his board and attending the sessions on 
the other four. And that completed his education. At 



David Crockett 311 

the age of fifteen he " struck out " for himself and became 
a farm laborer, teamster, trapper, hunter, and general 
frontiersman. After various love affairs more or less 
serious, in 1809 he married a young Irish girl, with whom 
he moved westward to Franklin County and began house- 
keeping with " fifteen dollars' worth of things fixed up 
pretty grand ! " For six years the young couple were 
very happy. They had plenty to eat, largely the result 
of Crockett's skill with old " Betsy," enough to wear, the 
fruit of the young wife's loom, and they exemplified in 
their lives his saying, " For I reckon we love as hard in 
the backwoods as any people in the whole creation ! " 
The death of his first wife in 1815 was a sad blow to him 
and his young children. 

In 18 1 3 Crockett served with credit as a scout under 
Jackson in the Creek War. In 18 16 he married again, 
this time a widow. There were three sets of children 
who lived together in an amicable if happy-go-lucky way. 
In 1 82 1 he was elected a magistrate and a colonel of mili- 
tia, although at the time he says he had never read a 
newspaper ! Such was his popularity that he was succes- 
sively elected to the State Legislature and then to Con- 
gress, where he served two terms; his ignorance, his odd- 
ity, his humor, his bravery, and his shrewdness, making 
him a figure of national prominence. Failing of re-elec- 
tion because of his antagonism to the policy of his whilom 
friend Jackson, and finding any future political career in 
Tennessee closed to him, he determined like many south- 
ern men of that day to go to Texas, then in the beginning 
of her efforts for freedom. There he hoped to make his 
fortune and there he found his end. And truly nothing 
in his life became him better than the ending of it ! 



312 Border Fights and Fighters 



II. The Lone Star Republic 

By the treaty of 1819 with Spain the United States re- 
linquished all claim to the western part of Louisiana, so 
called, lying south of the Red River and west of the Sa- 
bine, including the territory now comprised within the 
present state of Texas, then a part of the vice-royalty of 
Mexico. In 1821 Mexico revolted from Spain, and in 
1822 one Iturbide assumed the government and the Im- 
perial title; his career was brief but stirring, and in 1824 
he was deposed and a constitution establishing the Re- 
public of Mexico was adopted. Of this Republic Texas, 
conjoined to Coahuila, its western neighbor, became one 
of the states. 

The first American colony of any moment had been 
planted there in 1820 under the leadership of Stephen T7 
Austin, justly styled " The Father of Texas." Successive 
immigration from the southern United States during fif- 
teen years had brought the number of white Americans 
within the quarter million miles of Texas land up to twen- 
ty thousand, with a small but steadily increasing number 
of negro slaves. The Spanish or Mexican population 
was inconsiderable. 

The character of the American immigrants was not 
uniform. There were many insolvent debtors who had 
fled from their creditors in the States, broken shop-keep- 
ers leaving the letters " G. T. T." (Gone to Texas) chalked 
upon their doors, not a few adventurers and soldiers of 
fortune, and as everywhere, some scoundrels, but the gen- 
eral average of the American settlers was remarkably 
high. The majority were honest, capable, law-abiding, 
hard-working people of the middle class, the best stock 



David Crockett 313 

out of which to build a nation. Accustomed to hunting 
and frontier Hfe, they were bold and hardy, if reckless and 
impatient of discipline and restraint. All of them, Hke 
Crockett, were expert riflemen. 

Meanwhile, the Mexican government became the prize 
of a succession of worthless adventurers, using their op- 
portunities for their own aggrandizement. Finally, in 
1833, one Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna seized the Pres- 
idential office, abolished the Congress and made himself 
Dictator. This petty " Napoleon of the West," as he 
loved to style himself, was as black-hearted a scoundrel 
as ever schemed himself into power. Born at Jalapa in 
Mexico in 1795, he had been successively a lieutenant- 
colonel in the Spanish army, an adherent of Iturbide, a 
traitor to him, the diabolus ex machina of the successive 
revolutions with their different presidents, dictators, etc. 
— in short, a sort of sub-tropic Warwick ! He was not 
without some of the qualities of a soldier, however, and he 
certainly knew how to win the confidence of his country- 
men again and again, in spite of their frequent repudia- 
tions of him, in his long and eventful career. His op- 
pressive hand was at once laid upon Texas, and because 
the Americans would not tamely submit to be deprived 
of every political right by a series of drastic measures 
which actually included the proposed confiscation of their 
arms — their sole means of defence against Indians and the 
Mexicans themselves — they revolted. As a matter of 
fact they w-ere eager to do so. 

The position of Mexico on the question of slavery was 
a great cause of irritation to the Texans. Slavery was 
prohibited by the Mexican Congress in 1824 and was for- 
mally abolished by the legislature, all Mexicans, in Tex- 
as-Coahuila, in 1829. The Americans refused to be gov- 



314 Border Fights and Fighters 

erned by these enactments and prohibitions and defiantly 
retained their slaves, even adding to their number by im- 
portation. This was flat and open rebellion and was quite 
sufficient to account for the hostilities that followed. 
However, Mexico might have cared but little about that 
matter if the colony had not rebelled against the wretched 
maladministration of the Mexicans and because the 
Americans were practically refused even the smallest share 
of the government, in spite of the constitution. Besides, 
it is not the habit of Americans to submit to the dom- 
ination of any alien race whatsoever, especially of the 
Spanish family. They could not stand the Spaniard in 
his Mexican, or any other guise — that was enough to 
account for it. 



III. The Mission del Alamo 

The Texan War of Independence began with a skirmish 
at Gonzales near the end of October, 1835. A Texan dec- 
laration of principles was adopted November 13th, 1835, 
and the Declaration of Independence on March 2nd of 
the following year. The battle of Concepcion was won 
by the Texans on October 28th, 1835, and on December 
loth, after a siege and an assault which continued for six 
days, the city of San Antonio de Bexar, the most consid- 
erable town in Texas, was captured, and every Mexican 
soldier was expelled from the territory. Hard by the 
town stood the buildings of the Mission of San Anto- 
nio de Valero, commonly called the Mission del Alamo, 
or the Alamo, word signifying cotton-wood tree. The 
Alamo was founded by the Franciscans in 1703, and 
after various removals, established in its present loca- 
tion in 1722. 













Mi? 



-^ 3 



^ -ci. 






(^s»_,»- 



^4 ,\^'*^^ 






David Crockett 3^S 

The mission buildings comprised a main plaza in the 
shape of a long parallelogram about fifty by a hundred and 
fifty yards, with the major axis north and south; the en- 
closing wall, built of adobe bricks, was about eight feet 
high and three feet thick. On the west side of the plaza 
stood a row of one-story buildings, and along the middle 
of the east side for about sixty yards was a two-story con- 
vent eighteen feet wide. To the east of the convent lay 
a yard about a hundred feet square with walls over three 
feet thick and about sixteen feet high, further strength- 
ened on the inside by an embankment eight feet high. At 
the northeast corner of this yard was a sally-port covered 
by an earth redoubt. At the southeast corner of the yard 
stood the stone church of the mission, built in the form of 
a cross, properly orientated; the walls of the church were 
five feet thick and twenty-two feet high, and the building 
w^as roofless and dismantled. A formidable stockade con- 
nected the church and the southeast corner of the main 
plaza. Fourteen small pieces of artillery were mounted 
on the walls, including three in the chancel of the church. 
Two aqueducts touching the west wall and the church re- 
spectively provided a sufficiency of water. 

Early in 1836 the commander of this fort, if such the 
mission may be called, was Lieutenant-Colonel William 
Barrett Travis, a young lawyer from North Carolina, a 
tall, manly, red-headed young fighter, then just twenty- 
eight years of age.* Associated with him in the Alamo 

* Since the first publication of this sketch, I have received a number of let- 
ters from persons prominent in the local history of South Carolina, asserting 
that Travis' name was William Barr, not Barrett, and that he was a found- 
ling ; the name, which should be spelled Bar, being given him, it is alleged, 
from the fact that he was found one morning tied to the bars of a gate on 
the farm of a man named Travis, who adopted him and named him accord- 
ingly. The Travis lot was situated on the public road between Saluda and 



3i6 Border Fights and Fighters 

was Colonel James Bowie of Georgia — he of the sinister 
knife of the same name. Bowie was senior in age and 
rank to Travis, but had been disabled by a fall and was 
then confined to his room by the injury, to which an at- 
tack of pleuro-pneumonia was superadded; and he was 
therefore compelled to yield the command to Travis. 
Bowie was not too ill to fight, though, as we shall see. 
Under these two of^cers were about one hundred and forty 
officers and men, a totally inadequate force, as it would 
have required at least one thousand men properly to man 
the extensive lines of the Alamo. 

To this little band early in February, 1836, came a wel- 
come re-enforcement in the shape of David Crockett with 
twelve of his Tennessee friends and neighbors willing to 
help Texas to gain her independence and incidentally to 
join in what they all dearly loved — any kind of a fight! 
They were all clad in hunting suits, with 'coon-skin caps, 
and armed with long rifles and Bowie knives ! It is sig- 
nificant of the spirit of the man, that Crockett refused to 
swear allegiance to " any future government of Texas." 
until the word " republican " had been inserted after the 
word '' future " in the prescribed form of the oath. 

IV. The Hundred and Eighty against the Five 
Thousand 

On the twenty-third of February, 1836, Santa Anna 
in person appeared before the fort with the advance 
of his army and demanded its surrender. He had led 
some five thousand men of the Mexican regular army, 
with many camp followers and women, a forced march of 

Tohnston, South Carolina, and my correspondents claim Travis should there- 
fore be credited to that State. This adds a further touch of romance to 
Travis' story. 



David Crockett 3^7 

one hundred and eighty leagues from Monclova to San 
Antonio, across a desert country in the depth of a Texas 
winter with its extremes of heat and cold and blasting 
storm. Only after incredible hardships and great losses 
had the terrible march been completed. That Santa 
Anna could do this is no small evidence of his capacity as 
a leader and his ability to inspire his men to heroic action. 

His arrival was a complete surprise to the Texans; 
many of them were scattered through the town at a fan- 
dango at the time. When the alarm was given they re- 
paired to the Alamo and Travis met the demand for a 
surrender by a shot from his battery, at the same time 
hoisting his flag. This was the white, red, and green 
banner of the Mexican Republic with two stars (Texas- 
Coahuila) in the centre in place of the familiar eagle and 
serpent. The lone star flag had not then been adopted. 

Santa Anna displayed a red ensign signifying that no 
quarter would be given, and began erecting batteries with 
which he opened fire, the Texans replying with good ef- 
fect. The Mexicans, while greatly outnumbering the 
garrison, were not yet in sufficient force completely to 
invest the works, although their numbers were increasing 
as the diff'erent regiments followed the advance guard, 
and the Texans might easily have escaped. Travis, how- 
ever, had no thought of retreating — not he. He imme- 
diately despatched the following appeal for assistance : 

" To the people of Texas and all Americans in the World. 
" Commandancy of The Alamo, 

" Bexar, February 24, 1836. 
" Fellow Citizens and Compatriots. 
" I am besieged by a thousand or more of the Mexicans 
under Santa Anna. I have sustained a continual bom- 



3i8 Border Fights and Fighters 

bardment for twenty-four hours and have not lost a man. 
The enemy have demanded a surrender at discretion; oth- 
erwise the garrison is to be put to the sword if the place is 
taken. I have answered the summons with a cannon shot 
and our f\d.g still waves proudly from the walls. / shall 
never surrender or retreat. Then, I call upon you, in the 
name of liberty, of patriotism, and of everything dear to 
the American character, to come to our aid with all dis- 
patch. The enemy are receiving re-enforcements daily 
and will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in 
four or five days. Though this call may be neglected, I 
am determined to sustain myself as long as possible and 
die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own 
honor and that of his country. 

" Victory or Decrth! 

" W. Barrett Travis, 

" Lieutenant-Colonel, Commanding. 

" P. S. — The Lord is on our side. When the army 
appeared in sight we had not three bushels of corn. We 
have since found in deserted houses eighty or ninety 
bushels and got into the walls twenty or thirty beeves." 

Brave Travis ! Other ringing sentences from his sub- 
sequent letters are worth quoting : 

" I shall continue to hold the Alamo until I get relief 
from my countrymen, or I perish in its defence." 

" Take care of my little boy, if the country should be 
saved I may make him a splendid fortune, but if the coun- 
try should be lost and I should perish, he would have 
nothing but the proud recollection that he is the son of a 
man who died for his country." 

The thought of that little boy adds a touch of pathos to 
the story of the dauntless cavalier and his devoted band 



David Crockett 319 

facing fearful odds " for liberty and honor, God and Tex- 
as, victory or death ! " 

Travis also despatched messengers invoking assistance 
from adjacent garrisons. Colonel James Butler Bonham, 
a young South Carolina volunteer, broke through the 
Mexican lines and rode post-haste to Colonel Fannin at 
Goliad, some two hundred miles to the southeast. Fan- 
nin promptly started out with three hundred men and 
four guns, but his ammunition wagons broke down, his 
transportation failed him, his provisions gave out, he 
could not get his artillery over the rivers, and he was 
reluctantly forced to turn back. 

He tried in vain to keep Bonham with him. " I will 
report to Travis or die in the attempt," returned the chi- 
valric Carolinian, who had been a schoolboy friend of 
Travis, as he started back to the fort. At one o'clock in 
the morning of March 3rd he succeeded in reaching the 
fort through the beleaguering army, after a long and dan- 
gerous ride in which he literally took his life in his hands. 
So far as any one could see he came back to certain death 
with his friends. Honor to him ! Travis had received a 
valuable re-enforcement of thirty-two heroic fellows from 
Gonzales, who dashed through the lines on horses, cut- 
ting their way into the Alamo at three in the morning of 
March ist. Captain J. W. Smith led them and they came 
cheerfully, although they divined what their fate would 
be if the place was stormed. 

For eleven days the siege continued. The Mexicans 
lost heavily whenever they came within rifle range; on 
one occasion they tried to bridge the aqueduct and thirty 
of them were instantly killed. Sorties were made by the 
besieged at first, but were soon given over. The bom- 
bardment of the works was continuous, but, strange to 



320 Border Fights and Fighters 

say, no Texan was killed, although the whole garrison was 
completely worn out by the strain of ceaseless watching 
and continual fighting. There is no question but they 
could have cut their way out and escaped at almost any 
time, but no one dreamed of such a thing. They were 
there to stay until the end, whatever it might be. 

Santa Anna would undoubtedly get the fort eventual- 
ly ; well, he might have it by paying the price ; so they rea- 
soned, but that price would be one, in the words of a later 
revolutionist, that would " stagger humanity." Know- 
ing Santa Anna, they could have no doubt of his inten- 
tions toward them, especially as he had made no secret 
of his purpose to put them all to death unless they surren- 
dered at discretion. The calm courage with which they 
faced this appalling certainty is as noteworthy as the high 
heroism of their last defence. 

The last of Santa Anna's army arrived at Bexar on the 
second of March; he allowed them three days for recuper- 
ation and on the fifth held a council of war to decide upon 
the course to be pursued. The council, like every other, 
was divided, with a preponderance of opinion in favor of 
waiting for siege guns to breach or batter down the walls. 
Santa Anna, however, determined upon an immediate as- 
sault, to be delivered at daybreak the next morning. 
Twenty-five hundred picked men in four columns, com- 
manded respectively by General Cos, who violated his 
parole thereby, and Colonels Duque, Romero and Mo- 
rales, were detailed to make the attack. They were pro- 
vided with scaling ladders, axes, and crowbars, in addi- 
tion to their weapons; and the cavalry of the army was 
disposed at strategic points to prevent escape should any 
of the hundred and eighty defenders succeed in breaking 
through the assaulting columns. Or, possibly, their 



David Crockett 3*21 

function was to cut down any panic-stricken Mexican 
who might wish to withdraw from before the death-deal- 
ing Texas rifles ! 

Colonel Duque was to lead the main assault on the 
north side, while a simultaneous attack was to be made 
on the east and west sides and at the redoubt covering the 
sally-port from the convent yard. No attack appears to 
have been contemplated on the stockade on the south 
wall at first. Accounts of what happened differ widely; 
it is to be remembered that no American lived to tell the 
tale, and it is hard to get at the absolute truth from Mex- 
ican testimony, and the frightened recollection of two 
dazed women and two servants. Each narrator must 
build his own account by considering all the testimony 
and weighing the evidence. This that follows seems to 
me to be what happened. 

About four o'clock on Sunday morning, March the 
sixth, the notes of a bugle calling the Mexican troops to 
arms rang over the quiet plain, across which the first gray 
light, precursor of the dawn, was already stealing. Bu- 
gles all about caught up the shrill refrain, lights appeared 
in the circling camps, the trampling feet of hurrying men, 
the commands of the officers, the rattling of arms, the 
neighing of the horses, all apprised the weary garrison 
that the moment they had expected was at hand. They 
were instantly assembled. 

What happened as they fell in on the plaza before they 
went to their several stations? Tradition has it that Trav- 
is paraded them, briefly addressed them, pointed out their 
certain fate, as he had sworn never to surrender, and bade 
any who desired to do so to leave him freely and escape 
while there was yet time. Not a man availed himself of 
the permission. " We will stay and die with you," they 



322 Border Fights and Fighters 

cried unanimously as they repaired to their stations on 
the outer wall. 

Cool, calm, and resolute, they waited the breaking of 
the battle storm; undaunted by the prospect, unshaken 
by the fearful odds before them. America has produced 
no better soldiers ! Even the dozen sick men in the long 
room of the hospital with Bowie were provided with 
arms, of which, fortunately, they had a good supply, and 
they, too, shared the same heroic resolution. Ill and 
well were equally determined. 

It was early morning when all the dispositions were 
made on both sides, and the day was breaking clear, cool 
and beautiful, a sweet day indeed in which to die for home 
and country and liberty, in the great cause of human free- 
dom — so they may have thought as they looked toward 
the eastward light for the last time. The quiet watchers 
on the walls presently detected movements in the dark 
rank of the besiegers. They were coming, then ! Music, 
too, was there. All the bands of the Mexican army sta- 
tioned with Santa Anna on the battery in front of the 
plaza were playing a ghastly air called " Deguello " — 
cut-throat ! — that and the red flag speaking of no quar- 
ter pointed out a deadly purpose. Well, the Texans 
needed none of these things to nerve their arms. Rifles 
were lifted and sighted, the lock-strings of the carefully 
pointed cannon were tightened; they could not afford to 
throw away any shots, there was no hurry, no confusion. 

The Mexicans were nearer now. The bug'les rang 
charge, the close ordered ranks broke into a run. From 
the east, the west, the north, they came, cheering and yell- 
ing madly ! A shot burst from the plaza, the crack of the 
rifles broke on the air, a fusillade ran along the walls on 
every side. The cannon roared out, hurling into the 



David Crockett 3'^3 

faces of the Mexicans bags filled with hideous missiles. 
The advancing lines hesitated, paused, halted, fled ! The 
first assault was beaten off, the ground was covered with 
dead and wounded; comparative stillness supervened. 
Well done, brave Texans, look to your arms again, 
snatch a cup of water, enjoy your moment of respite, 
they are coming again ! 

The east and west columns had been driven to the 
north. Colonel Duque, gallant soul, re-formed them on 
his own brigade; there was a small breach in the north 
w^all; he hurled the mass at it, himself in the lead. The 
Americans ran to the point threatened; again the wither- 
ing rifle fire. Duque fell, desperately wounded; mortal 
man could not face that deadly discharge; the soldiers 
gave way once more — repulsed a second time; would they 
dare come on again? 

Far ofif on the east side the roar of battle still surged 
around the redoubt covering the convent yard. How 
went the battle there, thought the triumphant defenders 
of the plaza as they gazed on their flying foemen? It was 
a critical moment for the Mexicans. Santa Anna recog- 
nized it, and galloped on the field leading a re-enforce- 
ment. He noted that the west wall had been denuded of 
most of its defenders, and with soldierly decision threw 
his fresh troops against it, leading them in person, some 
accounts say. Oh, for a thousand brave hearts and true 
to man the long lines! The hundred and eighty could 
not be everywhere, the few at the point of impact died, 
and the Mexicans entered the plaza, at last. 

At the same time the officers drove the men up to the 
third assault on the north wall. Under the eye of Santa 
Anna they advanced for a last desperate attempt. Honor 
to those Mexicans for their bravery too. In this attack a 



324 Border Fights and Fighters 

bullet pierces Travis' brain — the little boy has only the 
heritage of honored and heroic name then — he falls dead 
on the trail of a cannon. Bonham is killed servinsf a a:un, 
the north wall is taken, the redoubt to the east is gained, 
the stockade is attacked, other soldiers swarm up to the 
south wall, break through the gate — they come in on 
every side. Tlie Texans are surrounded by fire and steel. 
Some of them run back while there is yet time and rally 
in the convent where Bowie lies. Others follow Crock- 
ett, now in chief command, to the church to die with 
him there. The whole Mexican army is upon them now, 
the nine score against the five thousand at last. 

The old convent is divided into little cell-like rooms, 
each with a door opening into the yard or plaza, but with 
no connection between the rooms. A few Texans hold 
each chamber, and into each smoke-filled enclosure the 
infuriated troops pour their gun fire and then rush the 
rooms, to writhe and struggle over the bloody pavements 
until all the defenders are killed. No quarter indeed ! 

What of the invalids in the hospital fighting from their 
beds? Forty Mexicans fall dead before the door of the 
long room before they think to bring a cannon and blow 
the defenders into eternity. Bowie lies alone in his room 
waiting with grim resolution for what is coming, pain 
from injuries forgotten, fevered pulse beating higher; his 
bed is covered with pistols and near his hand lies his trusty 
knife. A brown fierce face peers in the door, another and 
another, the room is filled with smoke; yells and curses 
and groans rise from the floor where a trail of stricken 
soldiers reaches from the door to the bedside. And one 
bolder than his fellows lies on Bowie's breast with that 
awful American knife buried deep in his heart and Bowie 
has died as he had lived — sword in hand ! 




So he makes a tine end i 



David Crockett 31$ 

The only fight left now is in the churchyard. A little 
handful, bloody, powder-stained, desperate, are backed 
up against the wall. It is hand-to-hand work now on 
both sides, no time to reload, bayonet thrust against rifle- 
butt in berserker fury. Hope is lost, but they are dying 
in high fashion, faces to the foe, striking while they have a 
heart-beat left. '' Fire the magazine," says Crockett to 
Major Evans, the only remaining officer. The man runs 
toward the church where the powder is stored and is 
stricken down on the threshold. The Mexicans rush 
upon Crockett and his remnant. The keen death-dealing 
" Betsy " has spoken for the last time, the old frontiers- 
man has clasped it by the barrel now. Swinging this iron 
war-club he stands at bay, disdaining surrender. The 
Mexicans are piled before him in heaps, but numbers tell; 
they swarm about him, they leap upon him like hounds 
upon a great stag, they pull him down, bury their bayo- 
nets in his great heart, spurn him, trample upon him, spit 
upon him — so he makes a fine end ! 

It is over. Gunner Walker, the last man in arms, is 
shot and stabbed, tossed aloft on bayonets in fact. The 
flag is down. No one is left to defend it longer. Five 
wounded, helpless prisoners are dragged before Santa 
Anna and at his command butchered where they lie, or 
stand, some of the Mexicans officers — to their credit be 
it said — vainly protesting. Six people who were in the 
fort at the beginning were left alive by the Mexicans, two 
women, two children, and two servants, one a negro slave, 
the other a Mexican. 

One hour! One short hour filled with such sublime 
struggle as has not been witnessed often in the brief com- 
pass of sixty minutes. The sun is shining. The plaza is 
filled with light, the light of morning, the light of heroic 



3'26 Border Fights and Fighters 

death, of self-sacrifice absolute; and the day breaks, a day 
of eternal remembrance. Wherever men live to love the 
hero, these will not be forgotten. By the defence of that 
old deserted Spanish House of Prayer, it was consecrated 
anew to the service of God, through the sufferings of men. 
Their sacrifice had not been in vain, for the cry that swept 
Texas to freedom, that drove the Mexican beyond the 
Rio Grande was 

Remember the Alamo! 

One scene remains of the splendid story. By Santa 
Anna's orders the dead Texans, to the number of one 
hundred and eighty-two, were gathered together and 
arranged in a huge pyramid, a layer of wood, a layer of 
dead, and so on, and the torch applied. A not unfitting 
end. As the dead demigod of Homeric days was laid 
upon his funeral pyre, as the dead Viking of later time 
was burned with his ship, so these modern heroes. The 
wind scattered their ashes on the spot their defence had 
immortalized and made it forever hallowed ground. 

The hundred and eighty had done well, each one had 
accounted for more than four of the enemy, for the Span- 
ish casualties are estimated as between six hundred and .a 
thousand. And most was in hand-to-hand fighting. The 
Texan-Americans had done their best and given their all. 
Honor to their valor and their courage ! 

On the monument erected at the state capitol at Aus- 
tin, to commemorate their unparalleled achievement, is 
graven this significant line : 

"THERMOPYL^ HAD ITS MESSENGER OF DEFEAT, 
THE ALAMO HAD NONE." 



Part VI 
TEXAS 

II 

The Worst of Santa Anna's Misdeeds 



THE WORST OF SANTA ANNA'S 
MISDEEDS 

I. The Delay at Fort Defiance 

THERE are thousands who have read of the siege 
and defence of the Alamo. The tale of the heroic 
resistance put forth by the little band of Ameri- 
cans under Travis, Crockett, Bowie and Bonham, who 
fought until they were exterminated without exception, 
when Santa Anna stormed the old Mission in San An- 
tonio, is a familiar one. Without in the least measure 
condoning the action of the Mexicans, there was some 
degree of justification for it, in that the Americans refused 
to surrender, and when the place was taken by storm they 
were naturally put to death by the infuriated soldiery, es- 
pecially as they disdained to ask for quarter. To ask 
mercy would have been useless anyway, for other events 
showed that it would not have been granted. But for the 
massacre of the men of Fannin's command at La Bahia, 
or Goliad, there is not the shadow of justification. And 
their story is not often told outside of Texas and is prac- 
tically forgotten by the general reader. 

In the spring of 1836 the bulk of the Texan forces was 
stationed at the town of Goliad, or the old Spanish Mis- 
sion of La Bahia, on the San Antonio River, in the south- 
western portion of the present state, under the command 
of Colonel J. W. Fannin, a brave, enthusiastic young 

329 



33^ Border Fights and Fighters 

southerner, a soldier of fortune in fact, who had proffered 
his services to the Texans to assist them to gain that in- 
dependence of Mexico for which they were struggHng. 
Fannin's command comprised nearly five hundred men, 
all Americans, less than a score being Texans. The men 
were all volunteers who had come principally from the 
southern United States, although the recruits were by 
no means confined to that section; among them were sev- 
eral from Illinois. Texas had spread appeals broadcast 
throughout the Union, and the response had been prompt. 

Old Sam Houston, the commander-in-chief of the Tex- 
an army, unfortunately was not allow^ed to have his way, 
and differences between him, the President, and the Vice- 
President, and other authorities, produced the inevitable 
results of divided counsels and many heads; successive 
failures. The loss of the Alamo need never have oc- 
curred, and the fearful fate meted out to Fannin and his 
men, as we shall see, was more unendurable to think of 
because unnecessary. 

The Mexicans invaded the country in force. Instead 
of concentrating the Texan troops and the volunteers, 
who were men of a very high class indeed, the Texan 
forces were scattered. Consequently they were beaten in 
detail and it was not until Houston's masterly strategy 
had drawn Santa Anna, the Dictator, far into the country, 
where his force was annihilated and he was captured at 
San Jacinto, that success attended the American efforts 
for freedom. 

A column of Mexican troops under General Urrea, 
marching up the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, had over- 
whelmed several small detachments of Fannin's com- 
mand, the main body of which was concentrated at Goliad 
for the purpose, utterly futile, of invading Mexico with 



Worst of Santa Anna's Misdeeds 331 

a view to capturing Matamoras. Urrea's success with the 
detachments was complete, though not won without a 
heavy cost in life, for the Texans resisted manfully and 
never gave up as a rule until their ammunition was ex- 
hausted and they were left without means of defence. 

The Mexican Republic had decreed that any foreign- 
ers — that is, Americans — captured under arms, or found 
bearing arms against Mexico, should suffer instant death. 
Urrea, like all the other Mexican commanders, invariably 
executed the members of the detachments as fast as he 
captured them. Once in a while one or two from the dif- 
ferent little garrisons escaped to tell the story, but that 
was all. 

When the Alamo was captured and its defenders 
slaughtered, Houston sent peremptory orders to Fannin 
to retire to Victoria, where he would be in position to 
join forces with the commander-in-chief. He instructed 
him to bury his heavy artillery and destroy or conceal 
such stores as would impede his rapid movement, and to 
start immediately. 

Some twenty-five miles south of Fannin's post, which 
he called Fort Defiance, was a httle station called Refu- 
gio. Learning that there were some unprotected fami- 
lies there, Fannin had despatched Captain King with his 
company of some twenty-eight men to bring them of¥. 
King marched to Refugio and got there just before 
Urrea, who immediately assaulted him with his advance. 
The Texans seized the Mission church and defended it 
gallantly, so that Urrea's efforts to storm were success- 
fully withstood at great cost to the Mexicans. 

Meanwhile Fannin waited, delaying his departure and 
postponing obedience to Houston's orders, for tidings of 
King. Finally on the arrival of a messenger from Refu- 



33'^ Border Fights and Fighters 

gio asking for help, he sent Lieutenant-Colonel Ward, 
his second in command, with one hundred and seventy- 
five men to Refugio to bring off King and his party. 
Ward reached the Mission in safety. 

Fannin's force was divided into two battalions, a Geor- 
gia battalion, of which Ward was the immediate com- 
mander, and the Lafayette battalion. King, belonging to 
the other battalion, foolishly refused to acknowledge 
Ward's seniority and in the face of the enemy there was a 
difference between the two commanders, which resulted 
in King's leaving Refugio with his own men and a few of 
Ward's. 

They were pursued, captured, and shot dead to a man. 
Ward with the remainder of his command, now defending 
the Mission, fought off the Mexicans, who, whatever may 
be said against them, certainly showed dauntless gallantry 
in assaulting so often and so unsuccessfully fortified po- 
sitions defended by men whose ability as marksmen had 
been proven over and over again; but the ammunition of 
the Americans at last grew low, and finding that he had 
but a few rounds left, Ward broke through the besieging 
line in the night, and by keeping closely in the timber and 
marshes, thus avoiding the effective Mexican cavalry, he 
made good his escape for the time. 

He headed for Victoria, where he supposed he would 
find Fannin and possibly Houston. Meanwhile Fannin, 
having weakened his force by some two hundred men, was 
still waiting at Goliad. Six days actually passed after he 
received the order to move immediately before he com- 
plied with it. He was moved to delay, first, by a desire to 
help the people at Refugio, and then by his unwillingness 
to sacrifice King's command, and then by the necessity of 
hearing from Ward's expedition, so that for the sake of a 



Worst of Santa Anna's Misdeeds 333 

few families, whom he eventually failed to save, he threw 
away the precious days and finally involved the whole 
command in overwhelming disaster. An eye-witness tes- 
tifies that the order to retreat was received just before 
the march of Ward's battalion. Fannin's excuse was, of 
course, his chivalric reluctance to abandon King. 

The military exigency was so great that he should have 
started without a moment's hesitation in obedience to his 
positive orders. He held the command of by far the most 
efficient body of men in Texas; if lost they could scarcely 
be replaced. He was not a professional soldier, however. 
His military experience had been confined to the battle 
of Concepcion late in the previous year, in which he had 
distinguished himself for courage and daring, of which in- 
deed he manifested no lack at this juncture. Finally he 
received information from one Captain Frazier, who had 
volunteered to procure it, which convinced him of the 
folly and futility of waiting any longer for tidings from 
Refugio and, after wasting Friday in some useless scout- 
ing, on the morning of Saturday, the nineteenth day of 
March, 1836, he moved out from Fort Defiance, first dis- 
mantling it, and started to march to Victoria. 

Even then he lingered, although the Mexican troops 
had been reported the day before. Instead of discarding 
everything but absolute necessities he took with him a 
great train of artillery and supplies drawn by oxen. The 
party now numbered about three hundred and fifty men. 
The day was damp and foggy. Although they started 
very early in the morning they did not succeed in getting 
across the ford of the river until after ten o'clock. Then 
they moved slowly over the open prairie until about noon, 
when they halted in a little depression of the country 
which had been burned over and in which, perhaps be- 



334 Border Fights and Fighters 

cause it was low and received the drainage, there was an 
outcrop of fresh grass. They rested here an hour to give 
the cattle time for a mouthful. 



II. The Battle of the Coleta 

Fannin now sent his only horsemen, some thirty troop- 
ers, under the command of Colonel Horton, ahead to re- 
connoitre. This little band w^as prevented from rejoining 
the main body and so escaped capture. Early in the after- 
noon the oxen were yoked to the wagons and the party 
started forward again, hoping to reach the heavily wood- 
ed banks of a little river, the Coleta, where they would 
find shelter and water and could make camp for the 
night. They were about four miles from the river when 
a body of horse galloped out from the cover of the trees 
and approached them from the flank. 

At first they imagined that the horsemen were their 
own cavalry, but they were soon undeceived. The troop- 
ers were accompanied by infantry, and easily got between 
them and the river. On either side the Americans the 
tree clumps extended for some distance, and as they halt- 
ed and opened fire with a six-pounder on the Mexican 
cavalry, other troops broke from the woodland referred 
to and debouched upon the open prairie. A glance back- 
ward revealed additional troops following upon their 
trail. It took but a moment to discover to them that 
they were fairly surrounded upon an open prairie without 
wood, or water, or protection. 

They happened at the time to be in a depression some 
six feet below the normal level of the prairie; some little 
distance off there was a slight elevation raised as many 
feet above the level. Fannin at once put his force in mo- 



worst of Santa Anna's Misdeeds 33s 

tion to reach the knoll, but the breaking down of his am- 
munition wagons forced him to stay where he was. He 
drew up the three hundred men in a hollow square in the 
shape of a parallelogram, with the oxen and wagons in 
the middle, with a few women and children whom he had 
brought with him. He placed a small piece of artillery, 
a four or six-pounder, at each corner of the square and 
then resolutely awaited the attack. 

The flag carried by the Georgia battalion, a white field 
with a single blue star with the words, " Liberty or 
Death ! " was then unfurled. Fortunately the Texans 
possessed an abundant supply of arms and ammunition. 
There were two or three weapons to each man, rifles, 
muskets, and pistols. 

The Mexicans made no haste to approach, and Fannin 
very deliberately completed his preparations, cautioning 
his men by no means to fire until he gave the word. Be- 
tween two and three o'clock Urrea, who was in command 
of the Mexican forces, began the battle. His troops, 
converging upon the square from all sides, opened fire 
as they came within range, and under cover of the smoke 
tried to rush the Americans with the bayonet. 

Reserving their fire until the Mexicans were close at 
hand, the Texans poured in volley after volley, which did 
frightful execution, and as the Mexicans turned and fled, 
leaving numbers of dead and dying upon the field, the six- 
pounders opened fire upon them with good effect. 

The Mexicans had no artillery with which to make re- 
ply, but with remarkable courage — considering the popu- 
lar idea of their quality — they re-formed out of range and 
came on once more, only to be whirled back in another 
disastrous repulse. Finally Urrea in person led a dash- 
ing cavalry charge on the front of the square, at the same 



33^ Border Fights and Fighters 

time making a demonstration with his infantry on the 
other sides to prevent Fannin from detaching men to 
meet the onset of the horse. 

The attack was gallantly made, but was no more suc- 
cessful than the first two had been. Although the can- 
non through rapid firing had become by this time so 
clogged and so hot as to put them out of action, there be- 
ing no water in the square with which to sponge them, 
the Texans managed by quick and hard lighting to beat 
back for the third time the Mexicans, who outnumbered 
them three to one. An eye-witness gives the following 
account of the field after their first repulse : 

" The scene was now dreadful to behold. Killed and 
maimed men and horses were strewn over the plain; the 
wounded were rending the air with their distressing 
moans; while a great number of horses without riders 
were rushing to and fro back upon the enemy's lines, in- 
creasing the confusion among them; they thus became so 
entangled, the one with the other, that their retreat re- 
sembled the headlong flight of a herd of buffaloes, rather 
than the retreat of a well-drilled, regular army, as they 
were." 

The casualties in the little band had been by no means 
light, and there were already many wounded in the 
square. Instances of heroism were many. One young 
lad named Ripley, who was shot in the thigh, especially 
distinguished himself. Unable to stand, he was lifted up 
on a cart, and with a woman to assist him in making a rest 
for his gun, he watched his opportunity and killed four of 
the Mexicans in succession by accurate shooting before he 
was hit a second time in the arm and was unable to take 
further part in the action. 

During the whole of the battle most of the men re- 



Worst of Santa Anna's Misdeeds 337 

mained lying down until the successive assaulting columns 
had nearly reached them, when they would rise and deliv- 
er their fire. Fannin and his officers, however, persisted 
in standing, as the artillerists of necessity had done. 
Many of them were wounded, including Fannin quite 
severely in the thigh. 

As evening drew on, numbers of Indians, allies to the 
Mexicans, crept forward through the tall grass, skilfully 
masking their progress and successfully concealing them- 
selves, until they were close enough to take pot shots at 
the Texans, who suffered more from this attack than from 
the previous efforts of the Mexicans. 

When it grew^ dark enough, however, for the, Texans to 
see the flashes of the Indians' guns, their skilful marks- 
manship drove the savages out of range. It was as much 
as a man's life was worth to fire his gun, a Texan bullet 
always found the flash and the man back of it, so that 
when darkness came the enemy drew out of range. Out 
of the three hundred men sixty-seven had been killed or 
wounded, most of the wounded being seriously hurt. 

Their situation was critical. They were surrounded 
by an overwhelming force of Mexicans. There was no 
water in the square, and they found by some oversight 
that no food had been brought along, or the wagons con- 
taining it had been abandoned. It was possible for the 
survivors, staking everything on the attempt, to break 
through the Mexican lines in an endeavor to reach the 
river, but to do it they would have to abandon some sixty 
wounded comrades to the mercy of the conquerors, 
which was not to be thought of. The matter was de- 
bated furiously early in the evening, and it was unani- 
mously decided to stay together. 

Fannin, whose superb courage redeems his lack of ca- 



33^ Border Fights and Fighters 

pacity, was confident that as they had beaten the enemy 
before they could do it again without difficulty, and that 
if they maintained a bold front the Mexicans would with- 
draw. The wounded stifled their groans and endured 
their sufferings, therefore, as best they could; while the 
surgeons, of whom there were several with the party, men 
of skill and training, did what they could to alleviate their 
sufferings in the pitch darkness. Everybody else worked 
in preparing for the attack of the morrow. The area en- 
closed by the square was much contracted, and the wagons 
were placed on the outside to form some sort of a protec- 
tion, a trench was dug and a slight earthwork thrown up 
behind which the men could await the coming attack. 

Nobody slept. The night was chill and damp. The 
next morning, Sunday, the twentieth of March, Passion 
Sunday, broke clear and warmer, but the day brought no 
encouragement to the hungry, thirsty little army. The 
Mexicans had been heavily re-enforced during the night 
until they numbered some 1,200 elTectives, and they were 
now provided with artillery overmatching the useless 
American guns. The battle began at once. The artil- 
lery fired grape shot and solid shot, demolishing the frail 
American entrenchments and rendering the position un-- 
tenable. The Americans replied as well as they could, 
but their ammunition presently gave out and there was 
nothing left for them but surrender. 

III. The Massacre at Goliad 

Fannin was averse to capitulation, but he was over- 
borne. Indeed it is hard to see what else they could have 
done but surrender. Accordingly, after passively endur- 
ing the enemy's fire for some time, the white flag was 



Worst of Santa Anna's Misdeeds 339 

raised. After due preliminaries a solemn convention 
was drawn up in triplicate, duly signed and witnessed, by 
which the most favorable terms were given the Ameri- 
cans. The officers' side arms and private baggage were 
to remain in their possession, and the whole party was to 
be sent back to the United States upon their promise not 
to bear arms against the Mexican government in future. 
As solemnly as men could do it, these conditions were ex- 
pressed and the terms made. The men were to be treat- 
ed as prisoners of war until they could be sent back, with 
every right jealously preserved. Upon these terms and 
no other Fannin surrendered. The Mexicans allege that 
the surrender was unconditional, but their statement is 
disputed by every American witness who survived the 
massacre that followed. 

The captured Americans were immediately disarmed 
and marched back to Goliad, whither they were joined a 
few days later by eighty recruits who had landed at Mata- 
gorda Bay and been captured before they had an oppor- 
tunity to strike a blow. They were also joined by the sur- 
vivors of Ward's command who were taken near Victoria. 
Ward's party had but three rounds of ammunition left 
per man when they surrendered. 

The surgeons, of whom there were eight with the sev- 
eral commands — the Texan cause seems to have appealed 
powerfully to doctors — were left on the battle-field with 
the wounded of both sides, who were treated temporarily 
as well as possible, and two days afterward they were all 
brought back to Goliad. 

General Urrea seems to have acted at first in good faith. 
In spite of his severe wound, Fannin, in company with a 
German officer in the Mexican service named Holzinger, 
and some of his own subordinates, had gone down to 



340 Border Fights and Fighters 

Matagorda to charter a steamer or other vessel to take 
the prisoners to New Orleans. 

None being immediately available, however, he re- 
turned to Goliad to wait. The men suffered the usual 
hardships of prisoners of war, but otherwise were not 
badly treated, except in the case of the wounded. 

The loss of the Mexicans in the battle was never ascer- 
tained definitely. It must have been, however, between 
two and three hundred, although the Mexican reports 
claim much less, for the Texans were remarkably good 
marksmen, who shot to kill. At any rate, there w^ere at 
Goliad over one hundred Mexican wounded, most of 
them so severely as to be utterly incapacitated. The ser- 
vices of the American surgeons were invaluable to these, 
and the Mexicans at first refused to allow the Texan 
wounded to be attended to at all until the Mexicans had 
been looked after, but the doctors stoutly insisted upon 
treating the cases in the order of their severity, without 
regard to nationality, and in the end had their way. 

Santa Anna, who was campaigning to the eastward, 
had been apprised of the capture. He instantly de- 
spatched an order to the commanding officer at Goliad, 
in the absence of Urrea, one Colonel Portilla, directing 
his attention to the proclamation of the government^ — 
himself — with regard to foreigners in arms against the 
Mexican Republic, and peremptorily ordering him to 
carry out the decree — in other words, to have the prison- 
ers shot at once! 

The order reached Portilla on Saturday night, March 
27th. It filled him with dismay, and it is only just to the 
other Mexican officers to say that their commander's dis- 
may and horror were shared by the most of them. But 
Santa Anna was the Dictator of the miscalled Mexican 



Worst of Santa Anna's Misdeeds 341 

Republic, and no despot ever ruled more supremely than 
he. Portilla deliberated for a night upon the subject, and 
finally concluded that he had no alternative but obe- 
dience. He determined, however, to save Miller's men, 
who had committed no overt act other than landing on 
the shore, and the surgeons as well, with some others 
who had been attending to the wounded, eight in all. 

He did this largely on the representations of Colonel 
Garay, one of his subordinates, whose name deserves to 
be held in kindly remembrance, for he protested vehe- 
mently against the order and repudiated all connection 
with it both before and after the catastrophe. 

The eight surgeons, in entire ignorance of the reason 
for the order, early on the morning of Palm Sunday, 
March 27th, 1836, were marched to Garay 's head-quarters 
and kept there with two other men to whom he had be- 
come attached, and to save whom he had risked much. 
The wife of one of the officers, Senora Alvarez, also 
secreted several of the Americans. 

The prisoners were entirely unconscious of the fearful 
fate prepared for them. Indeed, although Fannin had 
not succeeded in getting a ship, they anticipated an early 
release, and one of the survivors relates that they spent 
the evening before congregated around one of their num- 
ber who had saved, or borrowed, a flute, and who played 
hymns which they sang, ending with " Home, Sweet 
Home," in which everybody joined. Early in the morn- 
ing of the fateful Sunday the three hundred prisoners 
appointed for massacre were divided into three companies 
of one hundred each. The wounded for the present were 
left behind. 

The men were lined up between two rows of Mexican 
soldiers fully armed. One party was told that it was to 



342 Border Fights and Fighters 

go out to slaughter beeves; another party that it was to 
be taken to a convenient place for exchange; the third, 
that it was to be quartered somewhere else, as the place it 
had occupied was needed for Santa Anna's army which 
was approaching. 

It was a pleasant, sunny, delightful spring morning. 
Chatting and laughing among themselves and entirely 
unconscious of any impending disaster or treachery, the 
three parties set out in different directions. As they 
marched through the town many pitying glances were 
cast upon them, and here and there a woman, more tender- 
hearted than the rest, was heard to murmur, " Poor fel- 
lows, poor fellows ! " (Pobrccitos.) The Texans attached 
no meaning to these words, however, supposing that 
they were being commiserated as prisoners, not realizing 
that it was on account of their approaching murder. 

The parties soon separated, but what happened to one 
happened to all. When they had reached a suitable place 
outside the town, where each party was hidden from the 
others, at a sudden command the Mexicans on the left 
flank, facing about, marched through the open ranks of 
the prisoners and joined their comrades on the right. 
The men were ordered to turn their backs upon the sol- 
diers, and sit down, and as, in their bewilderment, most of 
them did so, the guns of the troops were presented and a 
volley was poured on the helpless prisoners at contact 
range. 

Nearly the whole of each party fell at the first fire. 
Some there were, however, who were only slightly 
wounded, and a few untouched. They made a bold dash 
instantly to escape. Their efforts in most cases were en- 
tirely unavailing, for the cavalry had been ordered out and 
squads now appeared on the scene running down the fu- 
gitives, who were also the targets for rapid firing as the 



Worst of Santa Anna s Misdeeds 343 

guns were loaded. Most of them were shot down. Out 
of the whole number some twenty-seven, many of whom 
were wounded, did make good their escape. 
Acts of heroism were numerous. 

" Boys," said one young man, " they're going to mur- 
der us ' Let's die with our faces to the foe ! " 

Manv of them followed his example, refusmg to sit 
down, and faced the Mexican guns, waving their caps and 
shouting with their last breath, 

" Hurrah for Texas!" . 

With incredible brutality the Mexicans examined the 
bodies of the fallen and deliberately bayoneted those who 
vet survived. The hellish work, however, was not yet 
over. Squads of soldiers went back to the barracks 
where the wounded Americans lay. They dragged them 
out on the prairie and threw them upon the ground. 
Those who could do so struggled to their feet or their 
knees, but most of them lay helpless on the sod and 
were shot to death. Ward, a powerful and splendid 
soldier, died with words of scorn and contempt and bitter 
reproaches for their treachery on his lips. , , , • 

Fannin was the last one to be shot. He handed his 
watch and money to the officer commanding the firing 
party, asked him not to shoot him in the face and to see 
that he was suitably buried. Then he struggled to his 
feet opened the breast of his shirt, and calmly awaited his 
end He had no wish to survive after having witnessed 
the massacre of his men. He was shot in the face, and 
his body, with those of the others, thrown into a great 
brush heap which was set on fire with but partia resul 

Among the surgeons was one Dr. Bernard from Ilh- 
nois who has left a description of the situation, of the 
helpless men in the tents listening to the massacre, even 
seehig some of the fugitives being shot or bayoneted. 



344 Border Fights and Fighters 

Another surgeon was the commander of the Georgia 
company, the " Red Rovers' BattaHon," Dr. Shackelford, 
who was forced to stand passive in Garay's tent while his 
own company, composed of the best young men in his 
neighborhood, whom he had personally enlisted, and 
which included his son and two nephews, was shot to 
death. 

The feelings of those who had been saved can scarcely 
be imagined. Their utter impotence was the worst 
feature of the situation. Such was the temper of the 
soldiers, inflamed by the massacre, that they would have 
killed them out of hand if they could have reached 
them. The surgeons were eventually saved and with the 
twenty-seven who escaped and a few others secreted by 
Madame Alvarez, in all less than forty, were the only sur- 
vivors of this horrible massacre of quite three hundred 
and thirty helpless prisoners who had trusted to the sol- 
emn word of their captors — men to whom honor was 
nothing but a name. 

When the massacre, coupled with the slaughter at the 
Alamo, became known, such a wave of horror rushed 
through Texas and the United States as finally brought 
about the success of the effort to establish the Lone Star 
Republic. The Texans at last took fierce vengeance for 
these butcherings on the bloody field of San Jacinto. It 
is to be wondered how the officers ever succeeded in re- 
straining the men from executing summary justice upon 
the bloodthirsty butcher who disgraced the profession of 
arms and the country over which he ruled by this and 
other murders and massacres which he ordered without 
a shadow of justification. 

Santa Anna, who loved to style himself the Napo- 
leon of the West, is one of the meanest characters of 
modern history. 



Part VI 
TEXAS 

III 

Sam Houston and Freedom 



SAM HOUSTON AND FREEDOM 

I. Some Characteristics of the Man 

A REMARKABLE character was General Sam 
Houston, to whom we were introduced at the 
Battle of Tohopeka. He was a descendant of a 
North of Ireland family, coming from the place which 
may justly boast of the ancestry of such men as Stark of 
the Revolution, Crockett of the Alamo, and Jackson him- 
self. The Houston family was one of consideration en- 
titled to coat armor in the old country. One of them had 
been among the redoubtable defenders of Londonderry in 
1689. While not belonging to the landed gentry of the 
Old Dominion, they were large and prosperous farmers. 

Houston's father was an ofTficer of the famous brigade 
of riflemen that Morgan led to Washington's assistance 
from the right bank of the Potomac. His mother was 
one of those pioneer women of superb physique, high 
principles, and strength of mind and courage to match. 
After the death of her husband, when young Sam, who 
was born in 1793, was but thirteen years old, she took the 
family far over the Allegheny Mountains and settled on 
the borders of the Cherokee Nation in western Tennes- 
see. 

Such schooling as the neighborhood afforded was 
given Sam. His educational opportunities were meagre, 
but he made the best of his limited advantages and with 
such books as the Bible, the Iliad, Shakespeare, the Pil- 

347 



348 Border Fights and Fighters 

grim's Progress, and later when he was commander-in- 
chief of the Texan army, Caesar's Commentaries — in 
translation, of course, which he studied for the art of war 
— he gave himself a good grounding. He was a constant 
student in his way, and in manner and in ability, when he 
became Governor of Tennessee, President of Texas, Sen- 
ator of the United States, Governor of Texas, etc., he had 
no cause to blush when placed by the most distinguished 
men of his time. 

According to some authorities his unwillingness to 
clerk in a country store, according to others the refusal 
of his older brothers to permit him to study Latin, caused 
him to abandon civilization and cast his lot in with the 
Cherokees, whose territory lay adjacent to his home. He 
was adopted into the family of one of the sub-chiefs of the 
tribe, and for a long period he lived a wild, savage life 
with them. At different intervals during his career he re- 
sumed his relations with them, on one occasion taking a 
wife from among them, who afterward died, leaving no 
children. 

When he was begged to come back, in his grandilo- 
quent way he remarked that he preferred " measuring 
deer tracks to measuring tape." After several years with 
the Cherokees, finding himself in debt for some barbaric 
finery, he returned to civilization and opened a country 
school at the age of eighteen. His pluck was greater than 
his attainments, which yet appear to have been sufficient 
to make the school a success, for it included all the chil- 
dren of the neighborhood, and he was enabled to raise the 
tuition fee from six to eight dollars per year, one-third 
payable in corn at thirty-three and one-half cents per 
bushel, one-third in cash, and one-third in cotton goods 
or other kind. He once said, after he had filled almost 




" She took the family far over the Allegheny 
Mountains." 



Sam Houston and Freedom 349 

every elective position except that of President of the 
United States, that he experienced a higher feehng of 
dignity and self-satisfaction when he was a school-master 
than at any period of his life. 

Tiring of school-teaching he enlisted in the army as a 
private and soon won promotion to the rank of ensign. 
After his early exploits he resigned from the service ; one 
of the reasons therefor being on account of a severe and 
merited rebuke which he received for appearing before 
the Secretary of War dressed like a wild Indian ! He 
never liked Calhoun or his Democracy after that day. 
He was always a dandy in his dress, although at times he 
affected peculiar and striking costumes which his great 
height and imposing presence enabled him to wear with- 
out inspiring that ridicule which would have attended a 
similar performance on the part of a less splendid man. 

When he was first inaugurated Governor of Tennessee, 
August 2, 1827, he wore " a tall bell-crowned, medium- 
brimmed, shining black beaver hat, shining black patent- 
leather military stock or cravat incased by a standing col- 
lar, ruffled shirt, black satin vest, shining black silk pants 
gathered to the waistband with legs full, same size from 
seat to ankle, and a gorgeous red-ground, many colored 
gown or Indian hunting shirt, fastened at the waist by a 
huge red sash covered with fancy bead work, with an im- 
mense silver buckle, embroidered silk stockings, and 
pumps with large silver buckles. Mounted on a superb 
dapple-gray horse he appeared at the election unan- 
nounced, and was the observed of all observers." I 
should think so! 

When he was a United States Senator it was his habit 
to wear, in addition to the ordinary clothing of a gen- 
tleman of the times, an immense Mexican sombrero and 



35*^ Border Fights and Fighters 

colored blanket, or scrape, and his appearance naturally 
excited attention in Washington. 

While candidate for re-election as Governor of Ten- 
nessee, he abandoned his young wife after six weeks of 
married life, gave over his campaign, and once more 
sought asylum with the Cherokees. The reason for his 
action has never been discovered, although he explicitly 
stated that no reflection upon the character or conduct 
of the lady in question was implied or expressed by his 
conduct. Championing the Indians when he came back 
to civilization, he became involved in a quarrel with Rep- 
resentative Stanberry, whom he publicly caned. For his 
conduct he was formally censured at the bar of Congress. 
This quarrel brought him into public notice again. It is 
shrewdly surmised that he provoked it for that purpose, 
for he said : 

" I was dying out once, and had they taken me before 
a justice of the peace and fined me ten dollars for assault 
and battery it would have killed me; but they gave me a 
national tribunal for a theatre and that set me up again." 

Like many men of great physical vigor he was much 
given to excess. In his last sojourn among the Chero- 
kees, the Indians expressed their contempt for his dissi- 
pated habits by naming him the " Big Drunk," but drunk 
or sober, there was something about him that inspired re- 
spect. Whatever he did he was always '* Sam Houston." 
People used to say that he really signed his name " I am 
Houston." After he was converted, however — and in a 
large measure before that time, at the instance of his third 
wife, a woman of the most noble character, who married 
him to reform him and did so — he entirely stopped drink- 
ing and demeaned himself to the end of his life as a sincere 
and humble Christian of the very highest type. When 



Sam Houston and Freedom 351 

he got drunk, he got thoroughly drunk, and when he 
became converted to the Baptist faith, he did it with the 
same thoroughness; a thorough-going man, indeed. 

In one particular he was remarkable among his con- 
temporaries. He had the greatest reluctance to resort 
to the duel, which was then the usual method of settling 
differences between gentlemen. He had to endure many 
sharp remarks and bitter criticisms on this account, his 
courage was even impugned at times, although we now 
realize it not only to have been past reproof but actually 
to have been the very highest courage, as evidenced, for 
one thing, by those very refusals. Sometimes his wit en- 
abled him to escape. To one gentleman who challenged 
him, after counselling with his secretary, he informed the 
gentleman who brought the challenge that his principal 
was number fourteen on the list, and that he could hold 
out no hope of meeting him until he had disposed of the 
other thirteen ! 

His grandiloquent mind invested the slightest occur- 
rence with majesty. A friend of his gave him a razor, 
which he received with these words : 

" Major Rector, this is apparently a gift of little value, 
but it is an inestimable testimony of the friendship which 
has lasted many years, and proved steadfast under the 
blasts of calumny and injustice. Good-by. God bless 
you. When next you see this razor it shall be shaving 
the President of the Republic, by G — d ! " 

His manner toward ladies was as magnificent as his 
person, his dress, his oratory. His habitual word of ad- 
dress to them was " lady; " a very courtly, distinguished 
old fellow was he. 

After his supersession as Governor of Texas, because 
of his unwillingness to allow the state to go out of the 



3S^ Border Fights and Fighters 

Union, when the officers of the Confederacy established 
a stringent law requiring all men over sixteen years to 
register and obtain a pass, Houston paid no attention to 
the order. When he was halted by an officer who de- 
manded his pass, the old man waved him aside in his 
most Olympian manner, frowning and remarking, " San 
Jacinto is my pass through Texas." Small wonder that 
the people loved him. 

He had such a sense of humor and the dramatic as few 
men have ever had. He was one of the best campaigners 
among thousands of brilliant specimens that America has 
ever produced. His witty and epigrammatic speech is 
well illustrated by the following: 

A former friend had betrayed him and when the 
traitor's character was assailed on account of his ingrati- 
tude, Houston remarked, " You mustn't be too hard on 

S . I always was fond of dogs and S has all the 

virtues of a dog except his fidelity." 

This, his characterization of the leader of a certain 
cause, is one of those brilliant epigrams in which the very 
truth of history is enshrined : " Ambitious as Lucifer, and 
cold as a lizard." 

He may fairly be called a statesman, he most certainly 
can be styled an orator, and a little verse which he wrote 
to a relative illustrates that he was not deficient in the arts 
and graces, and is worth quoting : 

" Remember thee? Yes, lovely girl. 

While faithful memory holds its seat, 
Till this warm heart in dust is laid, 

And this wild pulse shall cease to beat, 
No matter where my bark is tost 

On life's tempestuous, stormy sea, 
My anchor gone, my rudder lost. 

Still, cousin, I will think of thee." 



Sam Houston and Freedom 353 

Houston did everything in his power to prevent the 
secession of Texas in 1861, but when she left the Union 
he went with her. We can understand him, Texas was 
like his own child. He died in reduced circumstances in 
1863, his last years embittered by the too evident failure 
of the Confederacy and the discords which tore his beloved 
country in twain. But the world is familiar with the 
events of his strange, romantic and useful career; few men 
have been so written about, and few men have deserved 
it more. While he did not rise to the solitary height to 
which the title of greatness accrues, yet he was one of the 
most eminent men of his time, and his valuable services 
are held in undying remembrance. Pass we to the second 
great day of his life. 

II. In the Service of the Texan Republic 

Aroused at last by the pleadings of his better nature he 
determined to abandon the loose, aimless, lazy, drunken, 
savage way of life with the Cherokees and go to Texas. 
It is believed that he went there at the instigation of Pres- 
ident Jackson, whose friendship and regard for him never 
wavered. A man of such prominence could not fail to 
attract attention in a country like Texas, and he was 
presently made commander-in-chief of the Texan army. 
After the capture of the Alamo and the terrible and in- 
human massacre at Goliad, Santa Anna deemed that the 
Texan revolution had been crushed and that the war was 
practically over. He intended to send back most of his 
troops to Mexico, but upon the urgent representations of 
some of his generals he agreed to march them further 
eastward and complete the subjugation of the country be- 
fore he did so. Houston wath a small body of Texans, 



354 Border Fights and Fighters 

numbering less than one thousand, was encamped at the 
crossing of the Colorado River near Bastrop, whither he 
had retired from Gonzales. 

It is probable that, in the light of subsequent develop- 
ments, his force was strong enough on account of its 
quality successfully to have engaged the whole Mexican 
army. No one knew or believed this would be so then. 
The Mexicans were regular soldiers, trained in the latest 
European methods. They were led by an hitherto suc- 
cessful commander who had succeeded in every battle. 
The Texans were a body of undrilled, untrained frontiers- 
men, armed with their own rifles and bowie knives, with 
no artillery, no bayonets, no camp equipage to speak of. 
There was but one drum in the whole camp, and Hous- 
ton did the drumming himself! His reveille was three 
taps on the drum. 

The problem presented itself in this way. If the Tex- 
ans moved forward to attack Santa Anna he would im- 
mediately concentrate his force and Houston would have 
to engage the whole Mexican power with his little hand- 
ful of men. If, on the contrary, he retreated, the prob- 
abilities were that Santa Anna, disdaining the little Texan 
army, especially when it was in retreat, would divide his 
force in order to seize as many points as possible; when, 
if Houston watched carefully, he might find an oppor- 
tunity of destroying them in detail. He chose the latter, 
which was the better course. 

III. "The Runaway Scrape" 

It was a risky, plan, and the risk lay in this : it is im- 
mensely difficult to hold together in retreat an army 
which has but little organic coherence and is mainly un- 



Sam Houston and Freedom 3SS 

disciplined and irregular. The men grumbled at being 
marched back to the eastward, and a panic immediately 
pervaded the country. Everybody sought to escape 
from the dreaded Mexican advance. The country was 
depopulated, and this precipitate flight of the inhabitants 
passed into history as " The Runaway Scrape." 

It was not without hundreds of incidents, tragic and 
otherwise. One lone woman whose husband was with 
the army strapped a feather-bed on her solitary pony, tied 
her three oldest children on it, and plodded on with the 
baby in her arms. In one of the wagons, an open one, lay 
a woman with a nine-day-old baby ; the mothers of Texas 
have loved to tell how, one rainy night in the wild flight, 
they stood about her for hours with blankets held over her 
to protect her from the storm. 

Houston carefully kept his disintegrating army between 
the fugitives and the Mexicans, and he saw that all the 
people had left any given section before he took up his 
daily march. On one occasion he gave over fifty dollars 
from the military treasure-chest, which only contained 
two hundred and fifty, to the destitute widow of a de- 
fender of the Alamo. 

There was the greatest indignation in certain quarters 
over this retreat and many protests were made. Hous- 
ton, however, was undeterred by this opposition, which 
even went so far as to question his courage, and steadily 
led his men backward over the prairie. When they 
reached Brazos, he determined upon a continuance of the 
retreat, and there some of his men broke out in open 
mutiny. He left several of the most recalcitrant com- 
panies to protect the town of San Felipe de Austin at the 
crossing and marched northward on the west bank of the 
river. 



3S^ Border Fights and Fighters 

On the part of the Mexicans it happened as he had im- 
agined. Santa Anna had concentrated his army at the 
Colorado to meet the Texans, but finding that Houston 
was in retreat, he had divided his force in three columns 
and despatched them in different directions, leading the 
centre column himself, to raid and capture Harrisburg. 
The Texan army was now reduced to less than seven 
hundred men. The retreat was conducted under circum- 
stances of the greatest dif^culty. Up the valley of the 
Brazos, over the rain-sodden prairies, the men toiled. 
Finally some distance up the river, at a place called 
Groce's Ferry, they found a little steamer called the 
Yellozustone, which they seized and by means of it crossed 
the river. 

Santa Anna, advancing with imperious energy, ap- 
peared in force before the Austin defenders, who set fire 
to the town and promptly did a little retreating on their 
own account. The Mexicans, by a ruse, inveigled a fer- 
ryman from the other side and crossed the Brazos, where- 
after Santa Anna, taking no account of Houston to the 
northward, pushed on to Harrisburg at the head of the 
centre column. 

Meanwhile Houston had been re-enforced by a srnall 
body of men, two cannon, six-pounders, called the " Twin 
Sisters," sent by the citizens of Cincinnati, via Harrisburg, 
and the Secretary of War. The President at Harrisburg, 
apprised of Santa Anna's rapid advance, barely escaped 
before he reached the town. Despatching one of his regi- 
ments to the gulf shore to head off the President and his 
Cabinet, who were fleeing to Galveston, Santa Anna 
marched on toward Washington. Houston, however, 
was marching toward the same town. The mutinous 
Texan companies, persuaded this time of the wisdom of 



Sam Houston and Freedom 357 

their general, came rushing back and raised his force to 
about seven hundred and fifty men. 

IV. Santa Anna is Trapped 

Santa Anna was in the heart of Texas with a force not 
too great for the Texans to meet with hopes of success 
and with no possibiHty of re-enforcement. Houston's 
strategy had proven his wisdom, and he now prepared to 
attack the unsuspecting Mexican. The forced march to 
catch him was a terrible one even to these men inured 
to all the vicissitudes of frontier life. The rains still con- 
tinued, and it w^as with the utmost difificulty that the 
baggage wagons and artillery could be transported. 
Houston himself set an example to his soldiers. Dis- 
mounting from his horse he put his own shoulder to the 
wdieel, encouraging them in every way, telling them that 
the opportunity they had craved was at last at hand, mak- 
ing no secret of his hope to strike a blow which would be 
decisive and result in the freedom of the Republic. On 
the 1 8th of April, 1836, the army reached Buffalo Bayou, 
then swollen bank full and unfordable, opposite the ruins 
of Harrisburg, which Santa Anna had destroyed. 

A celebrated scout named Deaf Smith with Captain 
Karnes of the regular cavalry met them here with a bag 
full of captured despatches which confirmed the fact that 
Santa Anna was with the force which had burned Harris- 
burg and was marching to New Washington. Houston 
was overjoyed at the possibility thus of capturing the 
Mexican commander-in-chief. With him in his posses- 
sion he would be able to dictate terms of peace. Leaving 
his baggage wagons with a guard of thirty men he pre- 
pared to cross the bayou, taking with him the two cannon 
and a single ammunition wagon. They found a leaky 



3S^ Border Fights and Fighters 

boat, and upon this and a rude timber raft they succeeded 
in ferrying over the army. 

Houston remained on one bank while the long tedious 
passage was being made, and Rusk, the Texan Secretary 
of War, remained on the other. Only by the greatest dif- 
ficulty was the crossing finally effected. The cavalry 
horses indeed had to swim the bayou. By nightfall, how- 
ever, they were all over and on the march toward the 
junction of Buffalo Bayou with the San Jacinto River, at 
a place called Lynch's Ferry, where they hoped to head 
off the Mexicans, who were supposed to be marching 
toward La Trinidad. 

The tired army marched twelve miles that night, stop- 
ping for rest at one A. M. on the 20th. Houston allowed 
his soldiers but a few hours for repose, for before dawn 
they started again and marched seven miles. A halt was 
taken for breakfast, but, upon receipt of intelligence that 
the Mexican army was at hand they left off preparations 
for the meal and marched post-haste to the ferry, across 
San Jacinto Bay, a little below the point where the Buf- 
falo joins the river. 

They reached the coveted point before the Mexicans, 
for no sign of the invaders were found. Six men under 
Captain Hancock, however, had made a valuable capture 
of a flat boat loaded with flour and filled with Mexicans, 
who surrendered without firing a shot. That cargo was 
intended for Santa Anna's army, which, in ignorance of 
the proximity of the Americans, had been marching for 
the same spot. It was a most welcome contribution to 
the American commissariat, for they were almost literally 
without anything to eat.* 

* There is a legend to the effect that after the battle Houston exhibited 
an ear of corn to Santa Anna with the question: " Sir, do you ever expect 



Sam Houston and Freedom 359 

Confident that the Mexicans were moving into the trap, 
they now turned back up the Buffalo for about three 
quarters of a mile, where Houston posted his army in a 
strong defensive position in a thick wood on the edge of 
the bayou. In front of the camp lay a stretch of prairie 
land broken by three large clumps of trees, known as 
islands. On the left was the broad arm of San Jacinto 
Bay, the enclosing marshy shores of which swept around 
to the south in front of them at a distance of a mile away. 
The marsh grew wider as it trended to the southwest. 
Beyond the tree islands lay another clump of trees termi- 
nating in the marshland. The country to the southwest 
was also marshy and impassable. The road up which 
they had marched to their position led across a deep ra- 
vine with very high banks called Vince's Creek. The 
road crossed this creek on a w'ooden bridge about eight 
miles from the battle-ground. 

Santa Anna with some twelve hundred of his men was 
in New Washington when his scouts brought word that 
the American forces were at hand. A scene of wild con- 
fusion and terror ensued, a panic in fact, extending from 
the general to the soldiery; but as the day wore on and no 
attack was made the Mexicans recovered their self-con- 
trol in a measure, and order having been restored, they 
marched toward Lynch's Ferry to meet the enemy. The 
Mexican advance came in touch with the Texans on the 
afternoon of the 20th. Santa Anna's artillerv- consisted 
of one nine-pounder. Tliere was a fruitless duel between 
this gun and the " Twin Sisters," and some cavalry skir- 

to conquer men who fight for freedom, whose general can march four days 
with one ear of corn for rations ? " The story goes on to say that the men 
begged the ear from the general, divided its kernels, planted them, and that 
Texas is full of San Jacinto corn to this day ! 



360 Border Fights and Fighters 

mishing, which was not unimportant, in that it gave one 
Mirabeau B. Lamar, one of the romantic characters of the 
period, an opportunity to distinguish himself under fire 
by the rescue of a comrade in circumstances of peculiar 
danger ; as a reward for which, he was immediately pro^ 
moted to the rank of colonel by Houston and given com- 
mand 'of the sixty horse which comprised the Texan 
cavalry ! 

Aside from this skirmish no attempt was made by either 
army to bring on a general engagement that day. Hous- 
ton had his own reasons for not wishing to fight and 
Santa Anna desired time to bring up a re-enforcement of 
five hundred men which was near at hand. Houston is re- 
ported to have said that his reason for not engaging was 
that he wanted the Mexicans to bring their whole availa- 
ble force in the vicinity to the field that he might over- 
come the enemy with one blow and not be compelled to 
make " two bites at a cherry." At any rate Santa Anna 
encamped in the woods to the south of the Texans, his 
right resting on the marshes which extended around his 
rear from San Jacinto Bay. He refused his left slightly 
and protected his front by making a flimsy entrenchment 
of pack saddles, baggage, etc., about five feet high, in the, 
centre of which in an opening he planted his nine-pound- 
er. His cavalry, several hundred in number, he posted 
on the right. 

On the morning of the 21st of April, 1836, five hun- 
dred men under General Cos marched up the road from 
Vince's bridge and joined Santa Anna. Houston gave 
out that it was not a real re-enforcement but merely part 
of the army already encamped, marching about to give the 
impression of an augmented force, but the statement 
deceived no one. Neither did it diminish the con- 




"Jzy} 


^■•■^ 




1>^Z 


'^M 


.■•.■■' o 




■.'o ■ 


•••£'.-.^ 


.-•.<■ 
.■:-.o . 



« E 



CQ 



362 Border Fights and Fighters 

fident courage of the Texans in the sHghtest de- 
gree. 

Houston had fully decided upon his course of action. 
He called Deaf Smith to him and bade him and a compan- 
ion named Reeves procure two sharp axes and hold them- 
selves in readiness for orders, directing them to keep with- 
in close touch during the day. The Texans waited under 
arms thinking the Mexicans in greater force, in fact out- 
numbering them over two to one, would attack them. 
But Santa Anna made no movement to advance and at 
the request of some of the higher officers Houston called 
a council of war at noon, the question being whether they 
should make, or wait, an attack. The two junior officers 
were in favor of attacking at once. All of the seniors 
said that it would be madness to attack regular and vet- 
eran soldiery with undrilled levies, pointing out that there 
were but two hundred bayonets in the Texan army, that 
they had a good strong defensive position where they 
were, and they ought to wait for the Mexicans there. 

Houston heard the discussion and received the conclu- 
sions in silence. He had already made up his mind, how- 
ever, for he called Smith and Reeves to him and secretly 
ordered them to go with all speed and cut down Vince's 
bridge. In other words, he deliberately destroyed the 
only practicable means of escape for either army in case 
of defeat. By his action the battle which ensued was lit- 
erally fought in an enclosure made by Buffalo Bayou on 
the north, San Jacinto Bay on the east, the marshes and 
waste land on the south, and Vince's Creek on the west. 



Sam Houston and Freedom 363 



V. The Battle of San Jacinto 

At half after three o'clock the men were drawn up on 
the prairie in front of the camp, their movements being 
screened from the observation of the Mexicans, who were 
most careless on this occasion and had apparently posted 
neither scouts nor sentinels, by the tree islands. Colonel 
Burleson with the first regiment occupied the centre. 
Colonel Sherman was on the left with the second regi- 
ment, with the two pieces of artillery posted on the right 
of Colonel Burleson's men. The guns were supported by 
four companies of infantry under Lieutenant-Colonel Mil- 
lard. The newly celebrated Lamar, burning to distin- 
guish himself again, occupied the right of the line with his 
cavalry. Secretary Rusk had general command of the 
left, while Houston led the centre in person. 

At four o'clock Houston gave the order to advance. 
The band, which consisted of the solitary drum of famous 
memory, re-enforced by a single fife, struck up a familiar 
popular air entitled "Will You Come to the Bower?" 
It was a bright, brilliant, sunny afternoon. The men with 
their guns a-trail advanced slowly until they passed the 
timber islands and appeared in view of the surprised Mex- 
icans. Then they broke into a run and darted forward. 
Houston dashed up and down the lines on horseback, 
waving his old white hat * and shouting profanely but 
emphatically, " G — d d — n you, hold your fire ! " 

When they were within two hundred feet of the Mexi- 

* On this day Houston wore "an old black coat, a black velvet vest, a 
pair of snuff-colored pantaloons, and dilapidated boots," with his trousers 
tucked in them. " His only badge of authority during the campaign was a 
sword with a plated scabbard which he tied to his belt with buckskin thongs." 



364 Border Fights and Fighters 

can line Deaf Smith tore madly on the field, his panting 
horse flecked with foam, and shouted in tones that could 
be heard all along the little line : " You must fight for 
your lives! Vince's bridge has been cut down! " The 
purport of this startling message was instantly perceived 
by the Texans. Like Cortez, Houston had burned his 
boats behind him. If they did not conquer, they would 
be like the army of Sennacherib, " all dead corpses." 

The Mexican camp was a picture of consternation and 
terror. They had never dreamed of the possibility of as- 
sault. Santa Anna was asleep, many of the officers were 
taking their afternoon siesta; the cavalrymen were water- 
ing their horses, the company cooks were preparing for 
the evening meal, the soldiers had laid aside their arms 
and were playing games. In great astonishment, as they 
discovered the Texans passing around the tree islands, 
they ran to their arms, and as Houston's men came on, 
the Mexicans delivered a wavering volley, which, being 
aimed too high, did almost no execution. One bullet 
struck Houston in the ankle, making a bad wound, and 
several others hit his horse, but nothing could stop the 
advance. Before the Mexicans could discharge their 
cannon — it was found loaded when captured — the Amer- 
icans struck the place. 

Quick as had been their advance the " Twin Sisters " 
had been able to deliver two well-aimed shots which had 
demolished a large portion of the flimsy barricade. As 
they reached the rampart the Texans fired pointblank at 
the huddled Mexicans. The discharge did fearful execu- 
tion. Before the Spanish could turn and fly, the fierce, 
furious faces of the Americans burst upon them through 
the smoke, and with clubbed muskets, a few bayonets, and 
many bowie knives, began their dreadful work. The cry 



Sam Houston and Freedom s^S 

that ran over the field with ever-increasing vokime until 
it drowned the roar of the guns, had been one filled with 
menace to Santa Anna and his men. 

"■ Remember the Alamo ! Remember Goliad ! Re- 
member La Bahia ! " 

Inspired to fury by the recollection of the cruel, blood- 
thirsty massacres, which Santa Anna had instigated and 
inwhich these men had participated, the Americans swept 
everything before them by their valor. In fifteen min- 
utes the whole Mexican army was either dead or on the 
run. Lamar, with his handful of horse, had thrown him- 
self upon the Mexican cavalry and routed them. Horse- 
men who could do so were galloping headlong down the 
road toward Vince's bridge pursued by the mounted 
Americans. The infantry and many officers on the Mexi- 
can right plunged into the marshes, vainly seeking safety, 
only to be slaughtered as they stood enmired. 

The Mexican defence, however, w-as not without some 
redeeming features. General Castrillon coolly stood in 
plain view of the Americans on an ammunition box, vain- 
ly imploring his flying men to make a stand. When they 
had retreated at least fifty yards from him, in despair of 
rallying them, he turned to follow and was shot down by 
the enemy, several bullets being found in his body after 
the engagement was over. Colonel Almonte succeeded 
in rallying some five hundred men in the trees, but was 
unable to inspire them with any energy, so he surrendered 
them in a body. 

Santa Anna with some others fled at top speed toward 
Vince's bridge, hotly pursued by Captain Karnes. When 
the fugitives reached the crossing and found it destroyed 
they faced about, but the pursuing Texans slaughtered 
them without mercy. A few, however, Santa Anna 



3^6 Border Fights and Fighters 

among the number, leaped recklessly into the ravine and 
managed to make good their escape on the other side. 

The Mexican army had been completely routed. As 
an army it had been eliminated from the campaign. Six 
hundred and thirty dead bodies were left on the field, of 
whom twenty-four were officers. Two hundred and eight 
lay wounded and helpless, of whom eighteen were offi- 
cers. There were seven hundred and thirty prisoners, a 
few fugitives, and many unknown and unaccounted for, 
who died in the marshes or rivers attempting to escape. 
The total Mexican force engaged had been about eigh- 
teen hundred. Of Texans there were just seven hundred 
and eighty-three, of whom eight were killed and twenty- 
three wounded ! It was one of the most crushing and 
bloody defeats on record. 

Though the numbers engaged were small the results 
were remarkable, for Santa Anna was captured next day 
by a party of Texans, and with him in possession the war 
was over, and the independence of Texas accomplished. 

Besides the arms and equipments twelve thousand dol- 
lars in specie was found in the Mexican treasure-chest. 
Houston generously gave up his share of plunder to 
his soldiers. Having set aside a portion for the Texan 
Navy, the men received on an average about seven dollars 
and a half apiece, but no reward could have measured up 
to the standard of their splendid victory; and the Field of 
the Hyacinth, changed from purple to red by the blood of 
their enemies, in Thomas H. Benton's poetic figure, is as- 
sociated with the brightest day in the story of the Lone 
Star Republic, which then took its place in the constel- 
lation of nations. 

Houston had again led the charge as he had done years 
before, and he was the hero of the occasion, although, as 



Sam Houston and Freedom 367 

he said himself, the " glorious achievement was at- 
tributable not to superior force but to the valor of our 
soldiery and the sanctity of our cause." Certainly I think 
San Jacinto must be placed high among the memorable 
conflicts and struggles that have occurred during the 
evolution of the American people, for it terminated for- 
ever any possibility of Spanish dominion in what is now 
one of the greatest and most important parts of the 
United States. From that point it is one of the most 
decisive of our battles. 

Old Sam Houston had not read Caesar's Commenta- 
ries for nothing. His masterly retreat from the enemy 
inducing him to divide his force, when the composition of 
the army is considered, was a splendid manoeuvre. He 
showed that he knew how to carry the shield of Fabius; 
and when he learned that Santa Anna was alone, with a 
part of his force at Harrisburg, his forced march to cor- 
ner him and the brilliant, workmanlike manner in which 
he planned and fought the battle, his daring in staking all 
upon the hazard by destroying his only means of retreat, 
showed that he wielded the sword of Marcellus as well. 

While he had no opportunity to distinguish himself on 
larger fields and with greater force, yet he made the very 
best possible use of, and secured the greatest possible re- 
sults from, the means at his command. No one could 
have done better, few could have done so well. There- 
fore we may write him down a soldier. 

No monument has yet been erected by grateful Tex- 
ans over his remains, but the state itself, empire as it is 
in extent, in resources, is forever associated with his 
name. 

THE END. 



INDEX 



INDEX 



A 

ADAIR, JOHN, assists 
Sevier and Shelby with 
North Carolina funds, 

Alamo, the Mission del, 314- 
316; meaning of the word, 
314; description of mission 
buildings, 315; siege of, 319 

Amathla, Charlie, Seminole 
ch''ef, 195 

American, racial type of, vii 

Arbuckle, Capt. Matthew, ar- 
rests Cornstalk, 58 

Army of the West, the, 271- 
274 

Artaguiette, d', defeated by 
Natchez and Chickasaw Ind- 
ians, 212 

Austin, Stephen Fuller, " The 
Father of Texas," plants first 
American colony in Texas, 
312 

B 

" DACK WATER MEN," 74 
Baen, Major, killed, 259 

Bahia, La, mission of, 329 

Bailey, Dixon, elected captain 
at Fort Minis, 170; heroic 
conduct of, 174; death of, 176 

Bartholomew, Col., wounded 
at Tippecanoe, 261 

Bassinger, Lieut., 198, 201; 
heroic conduct of, 202; butch- 
ered by negroes, 203 

Batcheldor, Capt., 170 

Battle of Bushy Run, 13-16; of 



Point Pleasant, 48-55; of 
King's Mountain, 85-88; of 
Enaree, 95 ; of Blue Licks, 
140-145; of Tohopeka, 177; 
of Burnt Corn, 193 ; of the 
Thames, 248; of Fallen Tim- 
bers, 249 ; of Frenchtown, 280- 
286; of Concepcion, 314; of 
the Coleta, 334-338; of San 
Jacinto, 363-368 

Batts, Capt. Thomas, Virgin- 
ian explorer, 115 

Beasley, Major Daniel, at Fort 
Minis, 170; careless conduct 
of, 171-172; death of, 174 

Beattie's Ford, 81 

Bedford, Pa., fugitives at, 6; 
relief of, 9 

Bellerive, Louis St. Ange de, 
Governor of Vincennes, Ind., 
212 

Bennett's Creek, 255 

" Betsy," David Crockett's 
rifle, 309 

" Big Knives," Kentuckians so 
called, 222 

Big Turtle, Indian name of 
Daniel Boone, 132 

Black Fish. Shawnee Chief, 
adopts Daniel Boone, 132; 
attacks Boonesborough, 134 

Bloody Spring, massacre of 
Indians at, by Capt. Samuel 
Brady, 28-32 

Bloody Year. the. 36 

Blue Licks, 131, 140 

Bonham, Col. James Butler, 
Texan volunteer, 319; killed. 

324 
Boone bibliography. 116 



371 



372 



Index 



Boone, Daniel, commands 
three frontier forts, 48; 
words of, on surveying the 
country, 66; the greatest of 
the pioneers, 1 13-147; birth 
of, 116; family of, 116-117; 
handwriting of, 118; mar- 
riage of, 118: captured by Ind- 
ians, 119, 130-132; slaughter 
of his family by Indians, 123; 
removes to Clinch River, 
Va., 123; commissioned cap- 
tain in the British service, 
123; returns to Kentucky, 
124; fac-simile letter of, to 
Gen. Shelby, 124; named Big 
Turtle by Black Fish, Indian 
chief, 132; attacks Indians on 
Scioto River, 134; court- 
martialled, 138; promoted 
lieutenant-colonel, 138; aban- 
dons his first land claim, 139 ; 
advice at Blue Licks, 141-142; 
at Battle of Blue Licks, 143 ; 
his two sons killed, 145; dis- 
possessed of his second land 
claim, 146; removes to Mis- 
souri, 146; his wife dies, 146; 
dispossessed of his third land 
claim, 147; Congress grants 
him a tract of land, 147; 
death of, 147; buried in Ken- 
tucky, 147 

Boone, Edward, killed by Ind- 
ians, 131 

Boone, Frances, captured by 
Indians, 128 

Boone, Isaac, death of, 144 

Boone, Jemima, captured by 
Indians, 128 

Boone, Squire, brother of Dan- 
iel, 120; severely wounded by 
Indians, 137 

Boonesborough, erection of, 
125; plan of, 126; attacked by 
Indians, 127, 128, 131, 133; de- 
fence of, 134-138 

Boone's Creek, 115 

Boone's Station, 139 

Borderers, Capt. Samuel 

Brady, first of the, 27-28 



Bouquet, Henry, how he saved 
Pennsylvania, 3-20; sketch of, 
7-8; death of, 19 

Bowie, Col. James, of Georgia, 
second in command of the 
Alamo, 316; killed, 324 

Boy in command of other boys. 
291-295 

Boyd, Col. John P., commands 
Fourth U. S. Infantry at Vin- 
cennes, 252; sketch of his life, 
252 

Brady, Hugh, Major- Gen. U. 
S. Army, sketch of, 25, 40 

Brady, Capt. John, vii, 23 

Brady, Capt. Samuel, Chief of 
the Rangers, sketch of, vii, 23- 
40; enlisted, 26; brevetted 
captain, 26; escaped from 
British, 26; ordered to West- 
ern Pennsylvania, 27; com- 
mended to Washington by 
Col. Brodhead, 27; commend- 
ed by Washington, 27 ; given 
command under Gen. Wayne, 
28; death of, 28; adventure 
of, at Bloody Spring, 28-33; 
famous leap of, 33-36; expe- 
dition of, with Wetzel, 36-40 

Brady, William, in Battle of 
Lake Erie, 26 

Brady's Run, 30 

Brandt, Joseph, Indian chief, 
243 

Brazos, Valley of, Houston's 
retreat up the, 355-356 

Brodhead, Col., commissioned 
by Washington to protect 
Pennsylvania against Indian 
incursions, 24 

Bryan's Station, Ky., attacked 
by Indians, 139; founding of, 
153; an old-time frontier fort, 
153-155; the women and chil- 
dren of, 151-164 

Buffalo Bayou, Texas, 357-358 

Burnt Corn, Battle of, 169, 193 

Bushy Run, engagement at, 10- 
16; battle of, 13-16 

Byrd, Col. William, a Virgin- 
ian Tory leader, 154 



Inde: 



373 



(2;AH0KIA, Indian chief, re- 
ceives Americans friendly, 

222 

Callaway. Col., companion of 
Daniel Boone, 128 

Callaway, Elizabeth, captured 
by Indians, 128; marries son 
of Col. Henderson, 129-130 

Camp Charlotte, Indian treaty 
of, 56 

Camp Union, 47 

Campbell, William, assists Se- 
vier and Shelby in expedition, 
76-77, 80 

Canadians attack Bryan's Sta- 
tion, Ky., T40 

" Captina Affair," the, 45 

Carleton, Governor of Quebec, 
224 

Carlisle, Pa., fugitives at, 6; re- 
lief of, 9 

Chambers, British Major, 288 

Cherokee Ford, 84 

Chickasaw Indians, 212 

Christian, Col. William, leads 
settlers of Fincastle County 
against Logan, 47, 49, 54 

Chronicle, Major, 89 

" Chucky Jack," 70 

Claiborne, Gen., U. S. military 
commander, 170 

Clark, George Rogers, in com- 
mand under Lord Dunmore, 
47; Daniel Boone accompanies 
in expedition after Battle of 
Blue Licks. 145-146; in the 
Great Northwest, 211-241; 
sketch of, 213-214; on Lord 
Dunmore's staff, 214; peti- 
tions Gov. Patrick Henry for 
500 pounds of powder, 215 ; his 
attempt to stop Indian forays, 
217; confers with Gov. Patrick 
Henry, 218; his plan, 218-219; 
surprises a dancing party, 221 ; 
his methods of dealing with 
Indians, 223 ; a great bluffer, 
225 ; arranges Virginia cur- 
rency, 227; marches to Wa- 



bash, 229-231 ; captures Vin- 
cennes, 234-238; his services, 
239 ; disappointment and neg- 
lect, 239; his death, 240. 

Clark, Ransom, terrible expe- 
rience at Dade massacre, 
203; pitiable condition and 
death of, 204 

Cleaveland, Col. Benjamin, of 
North Carolina, 76-77, 79; 
speech of, to mountaineers, 
80, 88-89 

Clinch, U. S. Commander-in- 
Chief in Florida, 198 

Coffee, Gen., defeats Creek 
Indians on the Tallapoosa 
River, 181, 184-186 

Coleta, Battle of the, 334-338 

Concepcion. Battle of, 314 

Corn Island, 219 

Cornstalk, Indian chief, in com- 
mand of Indians at Battle 
of Point Pleasant, 50, 53; op- 
poses treaty with Lord Dun- 
more, 55; fate of, 58; death 
of, 59 

Cornwallis, Lord, in South 
Carolina, 73-74; falls back, 93 

Cowpens, 81 ; muster of Lacey's 
army at, 82 

Craig, Capt. John, in command 
of Bryan's Station, 155; suc- 
cessful defence of, 156 

Creek Indians, sketch of, 168; 
join the British in War of 
1812, 168; the last stand of 
the, 181-186; defeated by Cof- 
fee and Jackson, 181-190 

Creek War, the beginning of 
the, 167-171 

Creole militia, 220 

Creoles in Geo. Rogers Clark's 
march, 229 

Cresap, Col., Logan's famous 
speech against, 56-57 

Cresap's War, 45 

Crockett, David, and the most 
desperate defence in Ameri- 
can history, 307-326; a typi- 
cal American, 307-311; a 
modest man, 308; sketch of 



374 



Index 



early life, 309-311; takes rein- 
forcements to Texas, 316; 
killed in the Alamo, 325 

Croghan, George, joins Harri- 
son against Tecumseh, 202; 
his defence of Fort Stephen- 
son, 291-304; promoted major 
of 17th Infantry, 293; his re- 
markable note to Gen. Har- 
rison, 296; brevetted lieuten- 
ant-colonel, 304 

Croghan, Mrs., sister to Geo. 
Rogers Clark, 240 

Crooked Creek, 54 

Cumberland River, explored by 
Dr. Thomas Walker, 115 



D 

r)ADE, MAJOR FRANCIS 
L., massacre of, and his 
command, 198-202; discovery 
of his body by Capt. Hitch- 
cock, 206; monument and in- 
scription to, at West Point. 
207 

Dade Massacre, 197-202; Capt. 
E. A. Hitchcock's report on, 
204-207 

Daviess, Major Jo, joins Harri- 
son against Tecumseh, 252; 
ambitious of distinction, 253; 
his impatience to attack, 260; 
death and burial of, 260, 263 

Deaf Smith, celebrated scout. 
357. 362, 364 

Decker, Lieut. -Col., wounded 
at Tippecanoe, 261 

Deckhard rifle, the, 77 

De Peyster, Capt., of New 
York, 85; raises flag of truce 
at King's Mountain. 90-91 

De Quindre. Dagniaux, with 
Indians attacks Boonesbor- 
ough, 134 

Dixen, Capt., Royal Engineers, 
298, 302; wounded, 302 

Doak, Presbyterian Parson, 79 

Dragging Canoe, Chickamauga 
chief, killed by John Sevier, 



71; on the gloom of Ken- 
tucky, 119 

Dunmore, Lord, Governor of 
Virginia, calls out Blue 
Ridge Militia, 46; feeling of 
Virginians against, 55; ex- 
pelled from Virginia by Gen. 
Andrew Lewis, 58 

Dunmore's, Lord, War, 45 

Duque, Col., attacks the Al- 
amo, 321; wounded, 2>22> 

Du Quesne, see De Quindre, 
Dagniaux 



E 



FLKSWATAWA (the proph- 
et), Indian chief, 247; his 
abandoned early life, 247; has 
charge of affairs during Te- 
cumseh's absence, 251 

Ellinipsico, son of Cornstalk, 
killed, 59 

Elliott, British Col., demands 
surrender of Fort Meigs, 288 

Embarrass River, Geo. Rogers 
Clark on the, 231 

Enaree, Battle of, 95 

England, by treaty, obtains 
possession of the country 
from the Great Lakes to the 
Gulf of Mexico, 213 

Everglades, Florida, inacces- 
sible character of, 197 



pALLEN TIMBERS, Battle 
of, 249 

Fannin, Col. J. W., massacre of 
his command at Goliad, 329- 
330; surrounded by Mexicans 
at the Coleta. 334; shot, 343 

Ferguson, Major Patrick, 47; 
distinguished conduct of, at 
Battle of the Brandywine and 
at Camden, 71 ; commands in 
South Carolina, 7^; reverses 
and successes of, 74-76; dash 



Index 



375 



to catch him, 79-82; killed 
at King's Mountain, 91; orig- 
inal account of his capture by 
Rev. Stephen Foster, 95-109 

Field, Col. John, leads a volun- 
teer company against Logan, 
47-48, 51-52; killed, 52 

Findlay, John, explorer, 115 

Finley, John, explorer, 115, 118; 
captured and killed by Ind- 
ians, 120 

Flemming, Col. William, leads 
expedition from Botetourt, 
47, 51; shot, 52 

Forbes, Gen. John, 44 

Forbes' Road, march of Bou- 
quet's army through, 9-10 

Fort Brady, 14 

Fort Brooke, Fla., U. S. troops 
at, 198, 204 

Fort Chartres, principal mili- 
tary post in Great Northwest, 
213 

Fort Defiance, the delay at, 329- 
3iS; dismantled, 333 

Fort Du Quesne, Pa., 220 

Fort Harrison, 253, 263 

Fort King, Fla., U. S. troops 
at, 198, 204 

Fort Lee, Tenn., siege of, 70 

Fort Ligonier, garrison of, 4; 
relief of, 9 

Fort Mcintosh, 32 

Fort Massac, 220 

Fort Meigs, 295, 300 

Fort Mims, the massacre at, 
167-178; plan of fort, 170 

Fort Morgan, 204 

Fort Moultrie, Osceola impris- 
oned in, 197 

Fort Necessity, 43 

Fort Pierce, 172 

Fort Pitt, defence of, 4; relief 
of, 8-9, 18, 24 

Fort Sackville, Vincennes, 
Ind., 225, 232; repaired by 
Gov. Hamilton, 228 

Fort Stanwix, Indian treaty of, 
44, 66 

Fort Stephenson, defence of, 
291-304; map of, 294 



Fort Stoddardt, Ala., 167 
Fort Washington, Ind., 224 
Fort Williams, 190 
Foster, Rev. Stephen, 79; his 

original account of the Battle 

of King's Mountain and death 

of Major Ferguson, 95-109 
Franklin, the State of, and its 

governor, 68-72 
Fraser, Capt., 198, 200; killed, 

201; his body found by Capt. 

Hitchcock, 206 
Frederick, Lord Dunmore at, 

46 
Frenchtown, Mich., 274, 276; 

map of, 278; Battle of, 280- 

286 
Fugitives, horrible sufferings 

of, in Western Pennsylvania, 6 



QAINES, MAJOR-GEN. E. 
P., Capt. Hitchcock's re- 
port to, on the Dade massa- 
cre, 204-207 

Gardiner, Capt., 198-199; killed, 
202 

Gatlin, Assistant Surgeon, 198; 
killed, 202 

Geiger, Capt., wounded, 259, 
262 

Gibault, Father, French mis- 
sionary, 223 

Gilbert Town, 81 

Girty, Simon, in command un- 
der Lord Dunmore, 47; takes 
part in Indian attack on 
Bryan's Station, 140, 154-155; 
treacherous conduct of, 162- 
163 

Goliad, Texas, massacre of 
Fannin's command at, 329- 
.330 

" Good Bess," 298 

Grant, Major, defeat of, 5 

Greathouse, Indian trader, 46 

Green River, 81; explored by 
Boone, 121-122 

Groce's Ferry, 356 



376 



Index 



H 

"XJAIR-BUYER GENER- 
AL," the, 224-229 

Haldimand, Governor of Que- 
bec, 224 

Hambright, Co!., 89 

Hamilton, British Governor of 
Detroit, 127; incites Indians 
to go on the warpath, 216; the 
'" Hair-buyer General," 224- 
229; marches down the Wa- 
bash to meet Geo. Rogers 
Clark, 225; Clark's peremp- 
tory letter to. 236; applies to 
Clark for truce, 235 

Hampden-Sidney College, Will- 
iam Henry Harrison graduate 
of, 249 

Harrisburg, Texas, Santa Anna 
destroys, 356-357 

Harrison, Captain Benjamin, 
leads a force against Logan, 

47 . 

Harrison, William Henry, Isaac 
Shelby assists, in defeating 
Tecumseh, 47; his part in 
breaking up the league of the 
Trans-Allegheny tribes, 248; 
his ancestry, 249; his military 
experience under Anthony 
Wayne, 249; his daring and 
gallantry, 250; his marriage, 
250; delegate to Congress 
from Northwest Territory. 
250; Governor of Indiana Ter- 
ritory, 250; attends Indian 
council at Vincennes, 250-251; 
his disposition of his men at 
the Battle of Tippecanoe, 255- 
256; his experience in Indian 
warfare, 257; his bravery in 
action, 260; fights the Battle 
of the Thames, 264-268; given 
supreme command of forces 
to recapture Canada. 272; ap- 
peals to women of Kentucky, 
273 

Hart, Capt., brother-in-law of 
Henry Clay, killed by Indians, 
287-288 



Helm, Capt. Leonard, appointed 
commandant at Vincennes, 
222,) bluffs Gov. Hamilton, 
225; his toddy spoiled, 235 

Henderson, Lieut., 198; heroic 
conduct of, 202 

Henderson, Col. Richard, nego- 
tiates with Cherokees for pur- 
chase of Transylvania terri- 
tory, 119; sends Boone to ex- 
plore it, 124 

Henry, Patrick, consulted by 
Geo. Rogers Clark, 218 

Hester, negro woman in massa- 
cre at Fort Mims, 167 

Hill, Col., 81 

Hillsboro Bay, Fla., 198 

Hitchcock, Capt. E. A., his re- 
port to Major-Gen. E. P. 
Gaines on the Dade massacre, 
204-207 

Holston, Fincastle County, Ky., 
47 

Horse Shoe Bend, Alabama 
River, Jackson's fight with 
Indians at, 177; map of, and 
plan of battle, 182 

Houston, Sam, heroism of, 186- 
190; his fight for the freedom 
of Texas, 347-367; some char- 
acteristics of, 347-353; sketch 
of his early life, 347-350; his 
peculiarities in later life, 350- 
352; his opposition to seces- 
sion, 353; in the service of the 
Texan Republic, 353-354; his 
risky plan of retreat, 354-356; 
his dress at Battle of San Ja- 
cinto, 363; captures Santa 
Anna, 366 

Hunter, Capt., second in com- 
mand of Fort Meigs, 300, 303 



ILLINOIS, County of, estab- 
lished, 223 

Illinois, Province of, military af- 
fairs of, administered by Geo. 
Rogers Clark, 223 



Index 



377 



Independence, Texan war of, 

314-315 

Indian wars justifiable, 193; 
some not justifiable, 193-194 

Indians defeated at Bushy Run 
by the Scottish Highlanders, 
16-17; engagement of, with 
Bouquet's army, 10-16 

Iturbidc assumes government of 
Mexico, 314 



7 

TACK. CAPTAIN, 170 

J Jackson, Andrew, calls out 
militia of Tennessee against 
Creek Indians, 177; his vic- 
tory at Tohopeka, 181-190 

Jefferson, Thomas, 218 

Jessup, U. S. General, treachery 
of, toward Osceola. 196 

Johnson, Mrs. Jemima Suggett, 
brave act of, 157-159 

Johnson, Richard Mentor. Vice- 
President of U. S., adventure 
of, in infancy, 158; in Battle 
of the Thames, 265-266 



K 

l^'ANAWHA RIVER, Gen. 
Lewis on the, 46-47 

Kaskaskia, 211-212, 219; only 
school at, in Northwest Ter- 
ritory, 212-213 

Kaskaskia River. 220 

Keais, Lieut.. 198; killed, 202 

Kennedy, Major, heads relief 
expedition to Fort Mims, 177 

Kenton, Simon, in command 
under Lord Dunmore, 47; 
saves life of Daniel Boone, 
130 

Kentucky, the beauties of, 113; 
a home for humanity, 114; ex- 
ploration of, 1 18-122; meaning 
of the name, 119; settlement 
of, 122-127; first religious ser- 
vices in, 127; first marriage in. 



130; her important part in the 
War of 1812, 272 

Kentucky River, Boone's settle- 
ment on, 122 

King's Mountain, 81; launching 
the thunderbolt, 83-91; Battle 
of, 85-88; plan 01 battle, 86; 
casualties of battle. 91; origi- 
nal account of battle, 95-109 

King's Mountain expedition, 
fighting in the, 71-72 



T ACEY, COL., 81; muster of 
his army at Cowpens, 82 

Lamar, Mirabeau B., promoted 
for bravery by Houston, 360 

La Mothe, Capt., in George 
Rogers Clark's expedition, 
234; Clark's plan to capture, 
236 

La Salle, Robert Cavelier, Sieur 
de. the first white man in 
Kentucky, 114; in the Great 
Northwest, 211 

Last battle of the Revolution, 
Blue Licks, Ky., 138-146 

Lewis. Gen. Andrew, and his 
Borderers, 43-59; sketch of, 
43; in Braddock's army. 44; 
major in Washington's regi- 
ment. 44; promoted as colonel, 
44: commands the Blue Ridge 
militia. 46; in the Battle of 
Point Pleasant. 48-55; his con- 
duct at Battle of Point Pleas- 
ant criticised by Bancroft, 57; 
Washington's friendship for, 
58; resigns his command, 58; 
death of, 58 

Lewis, Col. Charles, leads an 
expedition from Augusta 
against Logan, 47, 51; shot, 
52 

Lewisburg, Blue Ridge militia 
rendezvous at, 46 

Licking River. 140 

Ligonier, Fort, see Fort Ligo- 
nier 



378 



Index 



Little Turtle Creek, Indian at- 
tack at, i8 

Logan, Col. Benjamin, in com- 
mand of a company at battle 
of Blue Licks, 140, 145 

Logan (Tah-gah-jute), Cayugan 
Indian, declares war on Penn- 
sylvanians, 46 ; famous speech 
of, 56-57; killed, 57 

Lone Star Republic, the, 312-314 

Long Hunters, the, 122 

Louisville, Ky., 219 

Lulbegrud Creek, 122 

Lynch' s Ferry, 358, 359 

Lythe, Rev. John, Episcopal 
clergyman, holds first relig- 
ious services in Kentucky, 
127 

M 

XTC GARY, MAJOR, leads 
attack on Indians at 
Bryan's Station, 142-143 

McGillivray, Indian chief, 216 

McLanahan, Major, 282; killed, 
283 

Madison, Major, fierce defence 
by, at Frenchtovvn, 284; or- 
dered by Gen. Winchester to 
surrender, 285 

Maiden, now Amherstburg, On- 
tario, British headquarters at, 
273, 275, 286. 295 

Mars. Corpora! Stephen, gives 
first alarm of Indian attack at 
Tippecanoe, 258 

Martin's Station, massacre at, 

57 

Mason, George, 218 

Massacre at Martin's Station. 
57; at Ruddle's Station, 57; at 
Fort Minis, 167-178; of Major 
Dade's command, 198-202; of 
the Raisin, 271-289; at Goliad, 

338-345 

Matthews, Gen. George, m 
command under Lord Dun- 
more, 48 

Maumee Rapids, 273 ; Winches- 
ter ordered to march to, 274 



Medals awarded for heroic ex- 
ploits, 291-292 
Merrill, Mrs. John, kills four 

Indians, 151 
Metacomet, the Wampanoag 

Indian chief (King Philip), 

243 
Micanopy, Seminole chief, 195; 

leads Indians in attack on 

Major Dade, 200 
Michilimackinac, 244 
Middleton, Capt., 170, 172 
Miller, Lieut.-Col., garrisons 

Fort Harrison, 255 
Mims, Fort, massacre at, 167- 

Mims, Samuel, his farm at- 
tacked by Creek Indians, un- 
der Weatherford, 169-171 

Mobilian race of Indians, 244, 
246 

Monroe, Mich., 274 

Montgomery, Major L. P., 
killed by Creek Indians, 186- 

187 
Moore, Gen. Andrew, m com- 
mand under Lord Dunmore, 

48 
Morgan, Daniel, in command 

under Lord Dunmore, 47 
Morgans, the story of the, 163- 

164 
Morris, Robert, guardian of 

William Henry Harrison, 249 
Moscoso in Kentucky, 114 
Mountaineers, the assembling of 

the, 72-78 
Mountains, the land beyond the, 

113-115 
Mudge, Lieut., 198, 200; killed, 

201 
Musgrove's Mills, skirmish at. 

74,83 

N 

"ISJAPOLEON of the West," 

313 
Natchez Indians, 212 
Negroes butcher and mutilate 
troops in the Dade massacre. 



Index 



379 



203; quasi-Iiberty of, among 
the Indians, 194 

Nclherland, Major, checks ad- 
vance of Indians on Bryan's 
Station, 144-145 

New Washington, 357, 359 

Nez Perces War not justifiable 
by United States, 193 

" Nolichucky Jack," 70 

Ninety Six, 81 

Northwest Territory, the, 211- 
304 

o 

QCONOSTOTA, Indian chief, 
216; at siege of Fort Lee, 
70 
" Old King's Mountain," 47 
Osceola, Seminole chief, 195- 
197; treachery of Gen. Jessup 
toward, 196; kills Gen. 
Thompson, 200 
Ouabache, see Wabash 
Ouithlacoochee River, 198 
Owen, Major Abraham, joins 
Harrison's expedition against 
Tecumseh, 252; mistaken for 
Harrison by Indians and 
killed, 259 



pARKER, SIR PETER, at- 
tempt of, to capture Charles- 
ton, 70 

Pennsylvania, how Henry Bou- 
quet saved, 3-20; western, ac- 
tivity of Indians in, 5 

Pennsylvania and Virginia, 
strife between for possession 
of land, 45 

Philip, King, Algonquin Indian 
chief, 243 

Piankeshaw Indians volunteer 
services to Geo. Rogers Clark, 

234-235 
Pioneer, the American, ix-x 
Pioneers of East Tennessee, 63- 

93 



Pioneers, the wives of the, 151- 
153 

Pitt, Fort, see Fort Pitt 

Point Pleasant, Battle of, 48-55 

Point Pleasant, on the Kana- 
wha, 214 

Pontiac, Ottawa Indian Chief, 5, 
246 

Portilla, Mexican Colonel, de- 
stroys remnant of Fannin's 
command, 341-343 

Potomac Gap, 46 

Precedence, disastrous result of 
question of, 277-279 

Proctor, English commander in 
War of 1812, 264; at Battle of 
the Thames, 267; outpost of, 
at Frenchtown, 275; attacks 
Winchester's command, 279; 
infamous treachery of, 284- 
286; withdraws to Maiden, 
286; attacks Fort Meigs, 295; 
frustrated in his attack on 
Fort Stephenson by Captain 
Croghan, 296-304 



R 



"DAISIN RIVER, massacre 
on the, 271-288; Winches- 
ter's camp on the, 277; map of 
massacre, 278 

Red Hawk, Indian chief, killed, 

59 
Red River, camp of Daniel 

Boone on, 121 
Red Sticks, Creek warriors, 173 
Red Warrior, Creek Indian, 169 
Reed, Joseph, Pres. of Supreme 

Executive Council of Penn- 
sylvania, 2>2) 
Refugio, Texas, Gen. King's 

command overwhelmed at, 

2,2,2, 2,22 
Revolution, on the eve of the, 

43-59; last battle of the, 138- 

146 
" Revolution, the Rear Guard of 

the," 67-68 
Reynolds, British Major, 277 



38o 



Index 



Robb's Kentucky Riflemen, 262 

Robertson, James, of Tennessee, 
in expedition against Logan, 
47; settles in East Tennessee, 
67-68 

Rocheblave, M. de, commander 
on the Kaskaskia River, 220; 
his wife conceals valuable 
papers, 222 

Roosevelt, Theodore, on con- 
quering a continent, ix 

Round Head, Indian chief, 279, 
283 

" Royal Americans," 8 

Ruddle's Station, massacre at, 

57 
" Runaway Scrape, the," 354- 

356 
Ruse against ruse, 155 



CT. AUGUSTINE. FLA., U. 
S. troops at, 198; officers 

and soldiers of Dade massacre 

interred at, 207 
Salt River, explored by Boone, 

121 
San Antonio de Bexar, Texas, 

captured, 314; Santa Anna's 

army at, 320 
San Antonio de Valero, mission 

of, 314 
San Felipe de Austin, 355 
San Jacinto, Battle of. 363-368 
San Jacinto corn, 358-359 
Sandusky Indians ambushed by 

Capt. Samuel Brady, 33 
Sandusky, Lower, defence of, 

293 ; see Fort Stephenson 
" Sandy Creek Voyage," 44 
Santa Anna. Antonio Lopez, be- 
comes Dictator of Mexico, 
313; sketch of, 313; demands 
surrender of the Alamo, 316; 
storms the fort and butchers 
its defenders, 324-326; the 
worst of his misdeeds, 329- 
344; concentrates his army at 
the Colorado, 356; trapped by 



Houston, 357-362; captured at 
San Jacinto, 368 

Scalping of Indians, official, 33 

Scioto River, 47; Boone attacks 
Indians on the, 134 

Scottish Highlanders in battle 
of Bushy Run, 16-17 

Seminoles, their fight for free- 
dom, 193-208; meaning of 
their name, 193 

Seneca Falls, Gen. Harrison's 
post at, 395 

Sevier, John, and the Watauga 
men, 63-68; organizer of the 
first democratic government, 
63; origin of his family, 64; 
organizes the State of Frank- 
lin. 68; betrayed and tried for 
high treason, 69; set free and 
elected to the legislature, 69; 
chosen governor, 69; death of, 
69; romantic episode of his 
life. 70-71 ; his gallant conduct 
in Battle of King's Mountain, 

86-93 

Sevier, Valentine, leads a force 
against Logan, 47 

Shawnees, Capt. Samuel Brady 
and Lewis Wetzel in camp of, 
36-38; Col. Lewis's expedition 
against, 44 

Shelby. Capt. Evan, in com- 
mand under Gen. Lewis, 47, 
52; companion of Sevier, 65-66 

Shelby. Col. Isaac, in Battle of 
Point Pleasant, 47, 54; com- 
panion of Sevier, 65-66, 75-78; 
in Battle of the Thames, 265 ; 
commands the left centre at 
Battle of King's Mountain, 

86-93 

Sherrill, Katharine, second wife 
of John Sevier. 70-71 

Shipp, Ensign Edmund, inter- 
esting interview of, with Brit- 
ish officers, 299 

Shippensburg, Pa., fugitives at, 
6 

Short. British Lieut. -Col., at 
attack on Fort Meigs, 302; 
killed, 302 



Index 



381 



Slavery, position of Mexico to, 
313; question of, in Texas, 313 

" Sons of Fire," Cherokees, 71 

Spencer, Capt. Spier, commands 
mounted company in Harri- 
son's army, 253; killed at 
Tippecanoe, 261 

Stars and Stripes, domination 
of, viii; first floated over Mis- 
sissippi River, 222; hoisted in 
Vincennes, Ind., 236-238 

Stewart, explorer and compan- 
ion of Daniel Boone, 119-121 

Stone Eater, Indian chief at 
Tippecanoe, 263 

Stuart, Major, incites Creeks 
and Cherokees against Amer- 
icans, 216 

Stupes, Jenny, rescued by Capt. 
Samuel Brady, 38 

Sumter, Col., 81 

Sycamore Shoals, 76 

Symmes, Judge, father-in-law of 
William Henry Harrison, 250 



'pAH-GAH-JUTE, Cayugan 
Indian, 45 ; see Logan 

Talladega, Creek Indians de- 
feated at, by Gen. Jackson, 181 

Tallapoosa River, Ala., last 
stand of Creek Indians at, 
182-186 
• Talluschatches. Creek Indians 
defeated at, by Gen. Coffee, 
181 

Tampa Bay, 205. 206 

Tecumseh, Indian Chief, 47; his 
qualities as a statesman, 244; 
his views on possession of 
land, 244; James Parton's 
view of his character, 245; 
Gen. Harrison's testimony as 
to his character and abilities, 
246; his patience and restraint 
248; his part in the Battle of 
Fallen Timbers, 249; heart- 
broken at result of Battle of 
Tippecanoe, 6; Proctor, Eng- 



lish commander, inferior to, 
264; in Battle of the Thames, 
265; killed, 266-267; perpetu- 
ation of name, 268 

Tecumseh and William Henry 
Harrison, 243-268; the great- 
est of the Indians, 243-248 

Tennessee, Pioneers of East, 63 

93 

Tensaw Lake, 167, 169 

Terre Haute, Ind., site of, 253 

Texas and her heroic sons, 307- 
367 

Texas, Republic of, 312-314 

Thames, Battle of the, 264-268; 
important results of, 248 

Thames River, Province of On- 
tario, 264 

Thayendenegea (Joseph Brandt) 
Indian chief, 243 

Thompson, Gen., killed by Os- 
ceola, 200 

Tippecanoe, result of battle of, 
248; meaning of the word, 
253; Harrison's disposition of 
troops on ground at, 255-256; 
plan of battle of, 256; account 
of the battle, 257-263 

Tipton, Ensign, made captain of 
his company, 262 

Todd, Col. John, defends 
Bryan's Station, 140; first 
governor of Illinois, 123 

Tohopeka, Battle of, 177; Jack- 
son's victory at, 181-190 

Tories in Ferguson's army, 75 

Trans-Allegheny tribes, league 
of, 245; the protagonist of the 
league, 248-252 

Transylvania Company estab- 
lished at Boonesborough, 127; 
claims right of eminent do- 
main over Kentucky. 215 

Travis, Lieut. -Col. William Bar- 
rett, commander of the Alamo, 
315; his appeal for assistance, 
317-318 

Trigg, Col. Stephen, defends 
Bryan's Station, 140 

'■ Twin Sisters," Houston's can- 
non, 256, 259, 364 



382 



Index 



u 



TTNITED STATES, injustice 
^ of the. to Indians, I93-I97; 
boundaries as arranged by 
France and Spain, 228-229 
Urrea, Mexican General, over- 
whelms Fannin's command, 
330-342 

F 

■yiGO, FRANCIS, sketch of, 
227, 228; his claim allowed 

by government, 240 
Villiers, Conlon de, 43 
Vince's Creek, Texas, 359, 364 
Vincennes, Sieur de, establishes 

a military post on the Wabash, 

211; killed by Natchez Indians, 

282 
Vincennes, Ind., founded, 211; 

held by Geo. Rogers Clark. 

219, 223; captured by Clark. 

234-238 
Virginia and Pennsylvania, strite 

between for possession of 

land, 45 

W 

WABASH, military post at, 
^^ established by Vincennes, 
211 

Walker, Gunner, the last man 
killed in the Alamo, 325 

Walker, Dr. Thomas, Virginian 
explorer, 115 

Warburton. British colonel, at 
attack on Fort Meigs, 303 

Ward, Lieut.-Col., takes assist- 
ance to the Refugio garrison, 
332; escapes, 332; shot by 
Mexicans, 343 

Warrick. Capt., killed at Tippe- 
canoe. 261 

Washington, George, narrow 
escape of, 73 

Watanga men and John Sevier, 
63-68 

Watauga. Tenn., visited by De 
Soto, 66; settled by Dougher- 
ty, an Irish trader. 66 

Watauga, Fincastle County, 47 



Waxhaws, massacre at, 87 

Wayne, Anthony, instructor of 
William Henry Harrison, 249 

Weatherford, Indian war chief, 
169 

Wells, Col. .of 17th U. S. Infan- 
try, 273, 277, 280. 282 ; killed, 
283 

Wetzel, Lewis, adventure with 
Capt. Samuel Brady in camp 
of Shawnees, 36-38 

White Loon, Indian chief at 
Tippecanoe, 263 

White, Stuart Edward, on the 
American pioneer, ix 

Wilderness Road, 124 

Williams. Col, 81; killed at 
King's Mountain. 91 

Willing, Anne, refuses to wed 
General Bouquet. 19 

IVilling, the, a bateaux com- 
manded by Capt. Rogers, 229, 
235 

Winchester, Col., ordered to 
march to Maumee Rapids, 
274 ; camps on the Raisin 
River. 277 ; his command at- 
tacked by Gen. Proctor, 279 

Winnemac, Indian chief at Tip- 
pecanoe. 263 

Winston, Major. 86, 89 

Withlacoochee River, 198, 199. 
204 

Wood, Col. Virginian explorer, 
115 

Wyandotte Indians assist Gen. 
Proctor at Frenchtown, 279; 
attack Bryan's Station, 140- 

144 
Wythe, George, 218 



YADKIN RIVER, Boone's 
* settlement on, 121-122 

" Yellow Jackets," Capt. Spen- 
cer's company of mounted 
rifles, 253; at Tippecanoe, 261 



Z 



yANE, ELIZABETH, 
^ erv of. I =52 



brav- 



31<.77-1 



